United States v. Norman Reed ( 2019 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 18-1698
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Norman Eugene Reed
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines
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Submitted: October 14, 2019
Filed: November 8, 2019
[Unpublished]
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Before SMITH, Chief Judge, GRUENDER and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Norman Eugene Reed pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender, in
violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 18 U.S.C.
§ 2250(a). Reed makes an unpreserved claim that, because he was convicted of a sex
offense prior to the passage of SORNA, the retroactive application violates the
nondelegation doctrine. Reed concedes that plain-error review applies to his
challenge to the constitutionality of the statute of conviction. See Appellant’s Br. at
5; see also United States v. Jennings, 930 F.3d 1024, 1027 (8th Cir. 2019).
In 2007, the Attorney General retroactively applied SORNA to
sex offenders, acting under the authority delegated by Congress under
42 U.S.C. § 16913(d) (2006). We ruled on this issue in United States v.
Kuehl, 706 F.3d 917 (8th Cir. 2013), concluding that “SORNA provides
the Attorney General with an intelligible principle, and is a valid
delegation of legislative authority.” Id. at 920. After [Reed pleaded
guilty], the Supreme Court granted certiorari on this issue in Gundy v.
United States, 17-6086. On June 20, 2019, the Supreme Court rejected
the arguments relied upon by [Reed], stating “The question becomes:
Did Congress make an impermissible delegation when it instructed the
Attorney General to apply SORNA’s registration requirements to
pre-Act offenders as soon as feasible? Under this Court’s
long-established law, that question is easy. Its answer is no.” Gundy v.
United States, 588 U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 2116, 2129, ––– L.Ed.2d ––––
(2019). Kuehl remains the binding law in this circuit.
Jennings, 930 F.3d at 1027.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.1
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1
The Honorable Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger, United States District Judge for
the Southern District of Iowa.
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