No. 19-8381

Joseph Benjamin O'Donnell v. United States

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2020-04-29
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: administrative-law constitutional-law executive-branch legislative-authority nondelegation-doctrine separation-of-powers sex-offender-registration statutory-interpretation
Key Terms:
AdministrativeLaw
Latest Conference: 2020-05-28
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether this Court should revisit its nondelegation doctrine precedent and, in doing so, overrule Gundy and hold that 34 U.S.C. § 20913(d) is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to the Executive Branch

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED In 34 U.S.C. § 20913(d), Congress delegated to the Attorney General the power to apply the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) to individuals convicted of sex offenses prior to SORNA’s enactment. In Gundy v. United States, 139 S.Ct. 2116 (2019), a four-Justice plurality held that this delegation did not violate the nondelegation doctrine. Three Justices dissented. Justice Kavanaugh did not participate. Justice Alito concurred only in the judgment, noting his willingness to reconsider this Court’s nondelegation jurisprudence. Gundy’s 4-1-3 fractured decision “resolves nothing.” Gundy, 139 S.Ct. at 2131 (Gorsuch, J., dissenting). Until the full Court revisits Gundy, pre-Act offenders (like the petitioner here) will continue to bring challenges to their prosecutions. The sooner the Court revisits Gundy, the better. It is time that this Court reconsider the approach it has taken to resolve nondelegation challenges. The question presented here is: Whether this Court should revisit its nondelegation doctrine precedent and, in doing so, overrule Gundy and hold that 34 U.S.C. § 20913(d) is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to the Executive Branch. i

Docket Entries

2020-06-01
Petition DENIED.
2020-05-13
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/28/2020.
2020-05-05
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2020-04-23
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due May 29, 2020)
2020-02-18
Application (19A897) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until April 23, 2020.
2020-02-10
Application (19A897) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 23, 2020 to April 23, 2020, submitted to The Chief Justice.

Attorneys

Joseph Benjamin O'Donnell
Paresh S. PatelOffice of the Federal Public Defender, District of, Petitioner
Paresh S. PatelOffice of the Federal Public Defender, District of, Petitioner
United States
Noel J. FranciscoSolicitor General, Respondent
Noel J. FranciscoSolicitor General, Respondent