Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109–248), the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), contains a comprehensive revision of the national standards for sex offender registration and notification. The SORNA reforms are generally designed to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of sex offender registration and notification for the protection of the public, and to eliminate potential gaps and loopholes under the pre-existing standards by means of which sex offenders could attempt to evade registration requirements or the consequences of registration violations.
Section 112(b) of SORNA (42 U.S.C. 16912(b)) directs the Attorney General to issue guidelines to interpret and implement SORNA. The Department of Justice published proposed guidelines in the Federal Register on May 30, 2007, for this purpose. See 72 FR 30209 (May 30, 2007). The comment period ended on August 1, 2007.
Note-1: Section 112(b) of SORNA actually says:These final guidelines provide guidance and assistance to the states and other jurisdictions in incorporating the SORNA requirements into their sex offender registration and notification programs. Matters addressed in the guidelines include general principles for SORNA implementation; the jurisdictions responsible for implementing the SORNA standards in their programs; the sex offenders required to register under SORNA and the registration and notification requirements they are subject to based on the nature of their offenses and the extent of their recidivism; the information to be included in the sex offender registries and the disclosure and sharing of such information; the jurisdictions in which sex offenders are required to register; the procedures for initially registering sex offenders and for keeping the registration current and the registration information up to date; the duration of registration; and the means of enforcing registration requirements.
(b) GUIDELINES AND REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General shall issue guidelines and regulations to interpret and implement this title.
Note-2: The only Rule issued was to make SORNA retroactive (Feb 28, 2007), why wasn't that a Guideline? (Because Guidelines have no force of law, and Rules do. This subtle difference forced states to make their laws retroactive, and very likely in violation of state constitutional ex post facto prohibitions.)
Note-3: While it is true that Congress can vest powers to a lesser agency, as it did here to the DOJ (USAG), Congress itself DOES NOT have the power to violate State Constitutions, therefore, is the action by the USAG (to force states to make their laws retroactive) legal? i.e., Congress cannot vest what it does not have, in fact, the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment actually stands in the way of such action. (See also doctrine of nondelegation )
A summary of the comments received on the proposed guidelines follows, including discussion of changes in the final guidelines based on the comments received, followed by the text of the final guidelines.
..For the remainder of these FINAL Guidelines..(PDF) (Text Link) by DOJ
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