UNITED STATES v. JUVENILE MALE
No. 09-940
Supreme Court of the United States
June 27, 2011
564 U.S. 932
The Court of Appeals in this case held that the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA),
I
Respondent Juvenile Male was 13 years old when he began sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. The abuse continued for approximately two years, until respondent was 15 and his victim 12. In 2005, respondent was charged in the District of Montana with delinquency under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act,
In 2006, while respondent remained in juvenile detention, Congress enacted SORNA. 120 Stat. 590. Under SORNA, a sex offender must “register, and keep the registration current, in each jurisdiction” where the offender resides, is employed, or attends school.
In July 2007, the District Court determined that respondent had failed to comply with the requirements of his prerelease program. The court revoked respondent‘s juvenile supervision, imposed an additional 6-month term of detention, and ordered that the detention be followed by supervision until respondent‘s 21st birthday. 560 U. S., at 559. At the Government‘s urging, and over respondent‘s objection, the court also imposed a “special conditio[n]” of supervision requiring respondent to register and keep current as a sex offender. Id., at 560 (internal quotation marks omitted); see Pet. for Cert. 9 (noting the Government‘s argument in the District Court that respondent should be required to register under SORNA ““at least until” his release from juvenile supervision on his 21st birthday).
On appeal to the Ninth Circuit, respondent challenged this “special conditio[n]”
Over a year after respondent‘s 21st birthday, the Court of Appeals handed down its decision. 581 F. 3d 977 (CA9 2009), amended, 590 F. 3d 924 (2010). No party had raised any issue of mootness in the Ninth Circuit, and the Court of Appeals did not address the issue sua sponte. The court‘s opinion discussed only the merits and concluded that applying SORNA to juvenile delinquents who committed their offenses “before SORNA‘s passage violates the Ex Post Facto Clause.” Id., at 927. On that basis, the court vacated the District Court‘s condition of supervision requiring sex-offender registration and reporting. Id., at 942. The United States petitioned for a writ of certiorari.
While that petition was pending, this Court entered a per curiam opinion in this case certifying a preliminary question of Montana law to the Montana Supreme Court. 560 U. S. 558. The opinion noted that a “threshold issue of mootness” might prevent us from reviewing the decision below on the merits. Id., at 560. We explained that, because respondent is “no longer . . . subject” to the District Court‘s “sex-offender-registration conditions,” respondent must “show that a decision invalidating” those conditions “would be sufficiently likely to redress ‘collateral consequences adequate to meet Article III‘s injury-in-fact requirement.‘” Ibid. (quoting Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U. S. 1, 14 (1998)). We noted that by the time of the Ninth Circuit‘s decision, “respondent had become registered as a sex offender in Montana.” 560 U. S., at 561 (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, “[p]erhaps the most likely potential ‘collateral consequenc[e]’ that might be remedied by a judgment in respondent‘s favor is the requirement that respondent remain registered as a sex offender under Montana law.” Id., at 560-561. In order to ascertain whether a decision invalidating the District Court‘s registration conditions would enable respondent to remove his name from the Montana sex-offender registry, the Court certified the following question to the Montana Supreme Court:
“Is respondent‘s duty to remain registered as a sex offender under Montana law contingent upon the validity of the conditions of his now-expired federal juvenile-supervision order that required him to register as a sex offender, or is the duty an independent requirement of Montana law that is unaffected by the validity or invalidity of the federal juvenile-supervision conditions?” Id., at 561 (citations omitted).
The Montana Supreme Court has now responded to our certified question. See United States v. Juvenile Male, 2011 MT 104, 360 Mont. 317, 255 P. 3d 110. Its answer is that respondent‘s “state law duty to remain registered as a sex offender is not contingent upon the validity of the conditions of his federal supervision order, but is an independent requirement
II
It is a basic principle of
In criminal cases, this requirement means that a defendant wishing to continue his appeals after the expiration of his sentence must suffer some “continuing injury” or “collateral consequence” sufficient to satisfy
At the time of the Ninth Circuit‘s decision in this case, the District Court‘s order of juvenile supervision had expired, and respondent was no longer subject to the sex-offender-registration conditions that he sought to challenge on appeal. 560 U. S., at 560. As a result, respondent‘s challenge was moot before the Ninth Circuit unless he could “show that a decision invalidating” the District Court‘s order would likely redress some collateral consequence of the registration conditions. Ibid. (citing Spencer, supra, at 14).
As we noted in our prior opinion, one “potential collateral consequence that might be remedied” by an order invalidating the registration conditions “is the requirement that respondent remain registered” under Montana law. 560 U. S., at 560-561 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). But as the Montana Supreme Court has now clarified, respondent‘s “state law duty to remain registered as a sex offender is not contingent upon the validity of the conditions of his federal supervision order,” 360 Mont., at 318, 255 P. 3d, at 111, and continues to apply regardless of the outcome in this case. True, a favorable decision in this case might serve as a useful precedent for respondent in a hypothetical lawsuit challenging Montana‘s registration requirement on ex post facto grounds. But this possible, indirect benefit in a future lawsuit cannot save this case from mootness. See Camreta v. Greene, 563 U. S. 692, 712 (2011); Commodity Futures Trading Comm‘n v. Board of Trade of Chicago, 701 F. 2d 653, 656 (CA7 1989) (Posner, J.) (“[O]ne can never be certain that findings made in a decision concluding one lawsuit will not some day . . . control the outcome of another suit. But if that were enough to avoid mootness, no case would ever be moot“).
Respondent also argues that this case “cannot be considered moot in any practical sense” because, under current law, respondent may have “an independent
Respondent further argues that this case falls within the established exception to mootness for disputes that are ““capable of repetition, yet evading review.“” Id., at 8 (quoting Weinstein v. Bradford, 423 U. S. 147, 148-149 (1975) (per curiam)). This exception, however, applies only where “(1) the challenged action [is] in its duration too short to be fully litigated prior to cessation or expiration, and (2) there [is] a reasonable expectation that the same complaining party [will] be subject to the same action again.” Spencer, supra, at 17 (internal quotation marks omitted). At the very least, respondent cannot satisfy the second of these requirements. He has now turned 21, and he will never again be subject to an order imposing special conditions of juvenile supervision. See, e. g., DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U. S. 312 (1974) (per curiam). The capable-of-repetition exception to mootness thus does not apply, and the Ninth Circuit lacked the authority under
The petition for a writ of certiorari and respondent‘s motion to proceed in forma pauperis are granted. The judg-ment of the Court of Appeals is vacated, and the case is remanded with instructions to dismiss the appeal.
It is so ordered.
JUSTICE GINSBURG, JUSTICE BREYER, and JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR would remand the case to the Ninth Circuit for that court‘s consideration of mootness in the first instance.
JUSTICE KAGAN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.