No. 08-1301: Carr V. United States
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No. 08-1301 In the Supreme Court of the United States THOMAS CARR, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES ELENA KAGAN Solicitor General Counsel of Record LANNY A. BREUER Assistant Attorney General MICHAEL R. DREEBEN Deputy Solicitor General CURTIS E. GANNON Assistant to the Solicitor General RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN Attorney Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 (202) 514-2217 QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether 18 U.S.C. 2250(a), which imposes crim- inal penalties on certain sex offenders who travel in in- terstate commerce and knowingly fail to register or up- date a registration as required by the Sex Offender Reg- istration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq., applies to petitioner, whose interstate travel oc- curred after his conviction for a sex offense that triggers a registration requirement, but before SORNA’s enact- ment. 2. Whether the Ex Post Facto Clause precludes a prosecution under Section 2250(a) of a person whose un- derlying sex offense and interstate travel predated SORNA’s enactment, but whose failure to register oc- curred well after SORNA’s requirements became appli- cable to him. (I) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Opinions below........................................ 1 Jurisdiction........................................... 1 Constitutional and statutory provisions involved........... 2 Statement............................................ 2 Summary of argument................................ 13 Argument: I. The elements of Section 2250(a) can be satisfied by a pre-SORNA conviction for a sex offense, followed by pre-SORNA travel in interstate commerce and a post-SORNA failure to register..................... 16 A. Section 2250(a)(2)(B)’s context and structure clarify its applicability to pre-SORNA travel ...... 17 B. Applying Section 2250(a)(2)(B) to pre-SORNA travel better effectuates the statutory purpose .... 22 C. No canon of statutory construction or other presumption requires petitioner’s reading of Section 2250 .................................. 26 1. No constitutional doubts would be avoided by adopting petitioner’s reading.............. 26 2. No presumption against retroactivity applies . 28 3. The rule of lenity does not apply.............. 29 II. Reliance on pre-SORNA travel to satisfy the interstate-travel element of Section 2250(a) does not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause because the knowing failure to register occurs only after SORNA becomes applicable........................ 30 A. A law is retrospective under the Ex Post Facto Clause only if it applies to conduct that was completed before the law’s enactment............ 31 B. Petitioner’s failure to register was not com- pleted until after Section 2250 applied to him ...... 36 Conclusion .......................................... 42 (III) IV Table of Contents—Continued: Page Appendix – Statutory provisions involved ............... 1a TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases: Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005) ..........................................29 Bankers Trust Co. v. Blodgett, 260 U.S. 647 (1923) ......31 Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386 (1798) ..............31 California Dep’t of Corr. v. Morales, 514 U.S. 499 (1995) ....................................15, 32, 33 Caron v. United States, 524 U.S. 308 (1998) ............29 Chicago & Alton R.R. v. Tranbarger, 238 U.S. 67 (1915) .................................15, 16, 35, 39 Clark v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371 (2005) ................26 Collins v. Youngblood, 497 U.S. 37 (1990) .............33 Davis v. Michigan Dep’t of the Treasury, 489 U.S. 803 (1989) ......................................17 Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson, 538 U.S. 468 (2003) .......18 Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005) ..................26 Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Found., 484 U.S. 49 (1987) ........................18 Hinckley v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 2383 (2009) .......10 Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. v. Director, Office of Workers’ Comp. Programs, 519 U.S. 248 (1997) ......18 Johnson v. United States, 529 U.S. 694 (2000) ....................................29, 31, 32 Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244 (1994) ......28 Lindsey v. Washington, 301 U.S. 397 (1937) ........15, 33 V Cases—Continued: Page May v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 2431 (2009) ...........10 McKune v. Lile, 536 U.S. 24 (2002) ....................2 Miller v. Florida, 482 U.S. 423 (1987) .................33 Moskal v. United States, 498 U.S. 103 (1990) ..........29 Muscarello v. United States, 524 U.S. 125 (1998) .......................................15, 29 Rowland v. California Men’s Colony, Unit II Men’s Advisory Council, 506 U.S. 194 (1993) ..............18 Samuels v. McCurdy, 267 U.S. 188 (1925) .......15, 35, 36 Scarborough v. United States, 431 U.S. 563 (1977) .......................................12, 25 Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003) .................2, 3, 31 Toussie v. United States, 397 U.S. 112 (1970) ..........34 United States v. Brown, 555 F.2d 407 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 904 (1978) ...................34 United States v. Cain, 583 F.3d 408 (6th Cir. 2009) .....10 United States v. Campanale, 518 F.2d 352 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1050 (1976) ............34 United States v. Gould, 568 F.3d 459 (4th Cir. 2009), petition for cert. pending, No. 09-6742 (filed Sept. 25, 2009) .............................19 United States v. Hatcher, 560 F.3d 222 (4th Cir. 2009) . 10 United States v. Hayes, 129 S. Ct. 1079 (2009) .........29 United States v. Hinckley, 550 F.3d 926 (10th Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 2383 (2009) ........10, 20 United States v. Husted, 545 F.3d 1240 (10th Cir. 2008) ..........................................12 United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995) ............25 VI Cases—Continued: Page United States v. Madera, 528 F.3d 852 (11th Cir. 2008) ..........................................10 United States v. May, 535 F.3d 912 (8th Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 2431 (2009) .................10 United States v. Mitchell, 209 F.3d 319 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 849 (2000) ...................34 United States v. Trupin, 117 F.3d 678 (2d Cir. 1997) ....39 United States v. Wells, 519 U.S. 482 (1997) ............29 Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24 (1981) ..........31, 32, 33 Constitution, statutes and regulation: U.S. Const.: Art. I: § 8, Cl. 3 (Commerce Clause)..........14, 15, 25, 26 § 9, Cl. 3 (Ex Post Facto Clause)........... passim § 10, Cl. 1 (Ex Post Facto Clause)...............33 Amend. V (Due Process Clause)...................38 Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 106-386, § 1601, 114 Stat. 1537 ......................4 Dictionary Act, 1 U.S.C. 1...........................18 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, Pub. L. No. 103-322, § 170101, 108 Stat. 2038 .........3 Megan’s Law, Pub. L. No. 104-145, 110 Stat. 1345 .......3 Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act, Pub. L. No. 104-236, § 2, 110 Stat. 3093 ....................................3 VII Statutes and regulation—Continued: Page Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-21, § 604, 117 Stat. 668 ..............4 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Pub. L. No. 109-248, Tit. I, 120 Stat. 590 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.) ....................................5 § 124, 120 Stat. 598 ............................37 § 129, 120 Stat. 600 ............................37 15 U.S.C. 1173(a)(3) ................................21 18 U.S.C. 922(g) ...................................25 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) ..............................33, 34 18 U.S.C. 1962(c) ..................................34 18 U.S.C. 2250 ............................. passim, 1a 18 U.S.C. 2250(a) ............................. passim 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(1) .............................17, 19 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(2) ..........................17, 19, 21 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(2)(A) ..........................21, 40 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(2)(B) ........................ passim 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)(3) .................17, 19, 20, 30, 36, 37 18 U.S.C. 2250(b) .............................7, 38, 40 18 U.S.C. 2250(b)(1) .............................16, 38 18 U.S.C. 2250(b)(2) ................................38 18 U.S.C. 2250(b)(3) ................................38 42 U.S.C. 14071 .....................................3 42 U.S.C. 14072 .....................................3 42 U.S.C. 14072(i) ...............................32, 37 42 U.S.C. 16901 ..................................5, 22 VIII Statutes and regulation—Continued: Page 42 U.S.C. 16911(1) ............................5, 19, 20 42 U.S.C. 16911(5)-(7) ...............................5 42 U.S.C. 16912 ..................................5, 7a 42 U.S.C. 16913 ..............................19, 31, 8a 42 U.S.C. 16913(a) ...............................5, 20 42 U.S.C. 16913(a)-(c) ..............................19 42 U.S.C. 16913(b) ..................................6 42 U.S.C. 16913(c) ...............................6, 41 42 U.S.C. 16913(d) ...............................6, 20 42 U.S.C. 16913(e) .................................24 42 U.S.C. 16914 ..................................5, 9a 42 U.S.C. 16915 ..............................5, 20, 11a 42 U.S.C. 16924 (§ 124, 120 Stat. 598) .............24, 20a 42 U.S.C. 16924(a) .................................37 42 U.S.C. 16924(b) .................................37 42 U.S.C. 16925 ..............................5,