United States v. Wass (4th Cir. 2020)

United States v. Wass, No. 18-4547 (4th Cir. 2020)

Nature of Case: Defendant was convicted of a sexual offense in Florida in 1995 and required to register. After passage of federal SORNA in 2006, he traveled in interstate commerce and was indicted for failing to register. Defendant filed motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that federal SORNA violated doctrine of non-delegation, and that its application to him violated the Ex Post Facto clause of the federal constitution. District court held that federal SORNA was unconstitutional in that Congress improperly delegated its authority to Attorney General when implementing SORNA, and that it was so punitive in effect as to constitute punishment and thus could not be applied retroactively. The trial court dismissed the Indictment, and the government sought review.

Holding:  4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the indictment. The Court held that in light of Gundy v. United States, the non-delegation doctrine was not violated. The Court further found that federal SORNA was non-punitive, and thus did not violate Ex Post Facto protections.