The Issue of The OAG’s Interpretation of SORNA proposal OAG 157. 1. Expressly OAG by a summary statement improperly assumes continuous authority to change the law because the Act (Legislative Branch) “gave” the OAG (Executive Branch) the authority to interpret (Judiciary Branch) and implement the law.i 2. In the Overview, OAG restates the “dual” purpose of SORNA (SORNA has a dual character, imposing registration obligations on sex offenders as a matter of Federal law that are federally enforceable under circumstances supporting Federal jurisdiction, see 18 U.S.C. 2250, and providing minimum national standards that non-Federal jurisdictions are expected to incorporate in their sex offender registration and notification programs, subject to a reduction of Federal funding for those that fail to do so, see 34 U.S.C. 20912(a), 20926–27.) in order to improperly assert and extend authority of OAG to impose and enforce registration obligations in both Federal and non-Federal jurisdictions.ii 3. OAG further improperly assumes or extends the authority to create Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (‘‘SMART Office’’) to administer the national standards for sex offender registration and notification under SORNA and assists all jurisdictions in implementing the SORNA standards in their programs, operates the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public website, www.nsopw.gov, which provides public access through a single national site to the information about sex offenders posted on the public sex offender websites of the various registration jurisdictions, regardless those jurisdiction’s rejection of SORNA or non-compliance with SORNA expectations for their jurisdictions.iii 4. Other than the basic flaws cited above rising to the level of Constitutional violations of division of powers and improper extension of authority over non-Federal jurisdictions that have not agreed to comply with SORNA, the following comments are made regarding the punitive nature of SORNA and SMART Office, the heavy burden without added value upon non-Federal noncomplying jurisdictions, and the lack of restorative justice objectives. a. The OAG’s interpretation of SORNA proposes that persons previously convicted of a criminal offense that included a sexual component have no expectation of privacy neither during nor following a punishment judgment, particularly by the requirement to involuntarily register publicly, b. Nor have a liberty interest which could not be taken without due process, particularly residency restrictions, travel restrictions, and employment or business restrictions. c. The OAG’s interpretation of SORNA proposes minimum national “standards” that create an additional heavy burden on individual states, often in conflict with that jurisdiction’s own determinations for terms of punishment considering mitigating circumstances, and rehabilitation of offenders. d. The OAG’s interpretation of SORNA provides no added value to non-complying jurisdictions because the national sex offender registry contains effectively only a list of persons least likely to reoffend. A better solution for the benefit of protection is a restorative justice approach that deals directly with the root causes of sexual offending, and a public education system to teach the cure and limit motivations to offend. iFederal Register / Vol. 85, No. 157 / Thursday, August 13, 2020 / Proposed Rules 49332, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Office of the Attorney General, 28 CFR Part 72 [Docket No. OAG 157; AG Order No. 4759– 2020] RIN 1105–AB52, Registration Requirements Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act AGENCY: Department of Justice. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY ii Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 157 / Thursday, August 13, 2020 / Proposed Rules 49332, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Office of the Attorney General, 28 CFR Part 72 [Docket No. OAG 157; AG Order No. 4759– 2020] RIN 1105–AB52, Registration Requirements Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act AGENCY: Department of Justice. ACTION: Proposed rule. Overview iii Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 157 / Thursday, August 13, 2020 / Proposed Rules 49332, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Office of the Attorney General, 28 CFR Part 72 [Docket No. OAG 157; AG Order No. 4759– 2020] RIN 1105–AB52, Registration Requirements Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act AGENCY: Department of Justice. ACTION: Proposed rule. Overview