United States v. Kimble
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
James Kimble appeals from the District Court’s denial of his motion to dismiss a one-count indictment charging him with failing to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SOR-NA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a), when he moved from New York to Florida in 2009. Kim-ble is a “pre-Act offender,” meaning that he was convicted of a qualifying sex offense before SORNA’s 2006 effective date. See Pub.L. No. 109-248,120 Stat. 587.
We review de novo the denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment. United States v. Canori, 737 F.3d 181, 182 (2d Cir. 2013). Kimble argues that the District Court should have dismissed the indictment for two reasons. First, he contends that SORNA’s registration requirements did not apply to him at the time of his interstate move in 2009 because the Attorney General had not yet issued the Final Rule on SORNA’s retroactive application to pre-Act offenders, Applicability of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, 75 Fed.Reg. 81,849-01 (Dec. 29, 2010).
Second, Kimble argues that the indictment must be dismissed because it is predicated on his New York State sex offender risk classification, the adjudication of which violated due process. This argument misapprehends SORNA’s operation. Whether the State court hearings that determined Kimble’s risk classification under New York law complied with due process has no bearing on the validity of the federal indictment charging Kimble with a violation of SORNA. It is Kimble’s conviction for a qualifying sex offense in New York, not his subsequent risk classification under New York’s Sex Offender Registration Act, that triggers SORNA’s registration requirements. See 42 U.S.C. § 16913(a), (b). Kimble’s rape conviction constitutes a qualifying offense under SORNA. See 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5). Accordingly, the District Court correctly rejected his challenge to the indictment on due process grounds.
As Kimble acknowledges, his additional constitutional challenges to SORNA itself, under the Commerce Clause, Ex Post Fac-to Clause, and the Tenth Amendment, are foreclosed by this Court’s case law. See United States v. Guzman, 591 F.3d 83 (2d Cir. 2010); see also Lott, 750 F.3d at 219-20, 2014 WL 1622796, at *5.
We have considered Kimble’s remaining arguments and conclude that they are without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
. In 1983 Kimble was convicted in New York of Rape in the First Degree.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, James KIMBLE
- Status
- Published