United States v. Frank Rogers
468 F. App'x 359
| 4th Cir. | 2012Background
- Rogers was convicted on one count of traveling in interstate commerce while failing to register as a sex offender under 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a) and received a 21-month sentence.
- He challenged SORNA’s constitutionality and the district court’s supervised-release conditions as applied to him.
- The district court imposed mental-health and drug-treatment conditions, plus a blanket sex-offender-treatment condition with random polygraph testing.
- The court affirmed the conviction but vacated and remanded part of the judgment for striking the sex-offender-treatment condition and polygraphs.
- On appeal, the Fourth Circuit rejected Rogers’s constitutional attacks on SORNA but found error in the sex-offender-treatment condition.
- The panel affirmed the remaining supervised-release conditions but remanded to modify the judgment to strike the sex-offender treatment and polygraph provisions.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| SORNA constitutionality challenges | Rogers argues Ex Post Facto, Commerce Clause, due process, non-delegation, and APA violations. | Rogers contends SORNA is unconstitutional under those provisions. | Constitutional challenges fail; SORNA survives. |
| Non-delegation challenge to AG authority | Intelligible-principle insufficient to guide AG under SORNA. | AG’s discretion is cabined by Congress’s purpose and statute’s structure. | Intelligible-principle standard satisfied; no improper delegation. |
| Imposition of sex offender treatment and polygraph | blanket, non-evaluated sex-offender treatment and polygraphs were improper abuse of discretion. | Court reasonably related to deterrence and treatment needs under § 3583. | Abuse of discretion; strike sex-offender treatment and random polygraphs. |
| Remaining conditions (mental health, drug treatment) validity | No challenge to mental health/drug-treatment conditions. | Conditions are supported by § 3553 and policy statements. | upheld as to mental health and drug-treatment conditions. |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Gould, 568 F.3d 459 (4th Cir. 2009) (rejected similar challenges to SORNA)
- Scotts Co. v. United Indus. Corp., 315 F.3d 264 (4th Cir. 2002) (panel cannot overrule prior panel precedents)
- Burns, 418 F. App’x 209 (4th Cir. 2011) (delegation and SORNA considerations; highly circumscribed authority)
- United States v. Guzman, 591 F.3d 83 (2d Cir. 2010) (AG’s authority highly circumscribed; detailed delineation in SORNA)
- United States v. Whaley, 577 F.3d 254 (5th Cir. 2009) (same; delegated authority with delineated constraints)
- United States v. Ambert, 561 F.3d 1202 (11th Cir. 2009) (non-delegation principle and intelligible principle analysis)
- United States v. Dotson, 324 F.3d 256 (4th Cir. 2003) (polygraph testing as a treatment tool; release context)
- United States v. Hall, 551 F.3d 257 (4th Cir. 2009) (proper standard for reviewing preserved constitutional claims)