United States v. Paul, 718 Fed.Appx. 360 (6th Cir. 2017).
Nature of Case: Appellant was convicted of a state law offense of rape pursuant to a plea agreement. The plea agreement specified that he would not “be required to comply w/ the sexual offender registry.” Appellant did register for a time, and then stopped. Appellant then traveled outside of the United States for approximately one year, and then returned to Tennessee, where he did not register as a sex offender. Appellant was subsequently federally indicted for failing to register as a sex offender, was ultimately convicted at trial, and appealed.
Holding: Sixth Circuit affirmed Appellant’s conviction. Federal SORNA imposed independent requirements on Appellant that were not rendered null by his plea agreement in Tennessee state court. Sixth Circuit also rejected arguments that conviction violates the Full Faith and Credit clause, was not unconstitutionally vague, and did not violate the Tenth Amendment.