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The Sex Offender Registration And Notification Act: The Need To Break The Constitutional Mold, Bailey Bifoss

Golden Gate University Law Review

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is an example of legislation that utilizes the constitutional mold, as it contains a jurisdictional hook that expressly limits its application to activities that affect interstate commerce. SORNA’s jurisdictional hook states that a sex offender is guilty of violating its provisions if, after that offender travels in interstate commerce, he or she fails to register or update a registration as required. This hook provides federal jurisdiction over sex offenders even though SORNA’s purpose is to regulate criminal conduct and thus traditionally within the states’ power to regulate. SORNA, therefore, exemplifies the way …