''Nichols v. United States'', 578 U.S. ___ (2016), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which the Court held that the

Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal statute that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006. The Walsh Act organizes sex offenders into three tiers according to the crime committed, and mand ...

(SORNA) does not require an individual to update his registration after departing a state.SCOTUSblog coverage
/ref>

Background

In 2003, Lester Ray Nichols was convicted of "traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor" under .''Nichols v. United States''
No. 15–5238
578 U.S. ____ (2016). Congress passed the

(SORNA) in 2006 and the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

determined in 2007 that the law applied retroactively. When Nichols was released in December 2011, he complied with SORNA's registration requirements, registering as a sex offender in Kansas. In November 2012, Nichols abruptly decided to leave Kansas and move to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Nichols was arrested and charged with violating SORNA reporting requirements. He filed a motion to "dismiss the indictment on the ground that SORNA did not require him to update his registration in Kansas"; however his motion was denied and "Nichols conditionally pleaded guilty, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion." On appeal, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

affirmed his conviction. In a 2013 case involving a man from the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

area who had also moved to the Philippines, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western Dis ...

held in ''United States v. Lunsford'' that the defendant had no obligation to update his registration. The U.S. Supreme Court granted ''

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

'' to resolve the circuit split.

Opinion of the Court

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

authored a unanimous decision holding that a plain text reading of SORNA applies to a place in which a resident resides, not resided. Because the Philippines is a foreign jurisdiction where SORNA is inapplicable and because the law uses the

present tense The present tense (abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time. The present tense is used for actions which are happening now. In order to explain and understand present ...

, Nichols had no obligation under this federal law to update his registration. Under Kansas state law and under the subsequently enacted federal legislation, Nichols does have an obligation to update his registration information.

References

External links

*
SCOTUSblog coverage
United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court 2016 in United States case law Philippines–United States relations Sex offender registries in the United States {{SCOTUS-stub