United States of America v. Allen Brooks, Jr.

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 23-1694
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United States of America
Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Allen Brooks, Jr.
Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri - Cape Girardeau
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Submitted: August 21, 2023
Filed: October 18, 2023
[Unpublished]
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Before GRUENDER, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM
Allen Brooks, Jr., was charged with violating the Sex Offender Registration
and Notification Act (“SORNA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a)(3), after he failed to notify
local law enforcement in Missouri within three days of moving into the jurisdiction.

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Brooks entered a conditional guilty plea, and the district court1 sentenced him to 33
months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a 20-year term of supervised release.
Prior to pleading guilty, Brooks moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that
(1) SORNA impermissibly delegates legislative authority to the Attorney General
when it authorizes him to decide whether the statute applies to individuals convicted
of a sex offense prior to its enactment; and, (2) SORNA is an improper exercise of
Congress’ Commerce Clause powers. See U.S. Const. Art. I, § 1 (Legislative Power
Vested in Congress); id. at § 8, cl. 3 (Regulation of Commerce). Brooks concedes
that his arguments are barred by existing precedent and the district court denied the
motion. Brooks appeals raising the same grounds, which we review de novo. See
United States v. Anderson, 771 F.3d 1064, 1066-67 (8th Cir. 2014) (we review de
novo a defendant’s challenge to the constitutionality of a statute and the denial of a
motion to dismiss the indictment).
In Gundy v. United States, 588 U.S. ___, 139 S.Ct. 2116, 2129 (2019), a
plurality of the Supreme Court held that SORNA’s limited delegation of authority
as applied to pre-Act offenders was not impermissible. See also United States v.
Kuehl, 706 F.3d 917, 920 (8th Cir. 2013) (“We conclude that SORNA provides the
Attorney General with an intelligible principle, and is a valid delegation of
legislative authority.”). In United States v. May, 535 F.3d 912, 921-22 (8th Cir.
2008), we held SORNA’s criminal penalties are a valid exercise of the Commerce
Clause. See also Anderson, 771 F.3d at 1069-71.
We are bound by these precedents, and we affirm.
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1 The Honorable Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., United States District Judge for
the Eastern District of Missouri.

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