Gundy v. United States
Gundy v. United States, No. 17-6086, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that 42 U.S.C. § 16913(d), part of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. The section of the SORNA allows the Attorney General to "specify the applicability" of the mandatory registration requirements of "sex offenders convicted before the enactment of [SORNA]". Precedent is that it is only constitutional for Congress to delegate legislative power to the executive branch if it provides an "intelligible principle" as guidance. The outcome of the case could have greatly influenced the broad delegations of power Congress has made to the federal executive branch, but it did not.
| Gundy v. United States | |
|---|---|
Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued October 2, 2018 Decided June 20, 2019 | |
| Full case name | Herman Avery Gundy, Petitioner v. United States |
| Docket no. | 17-6086 |
| Citations | 588 U.S. ___ (more) 139 S. Ct. 2116; 204 L. Ed. 2d 522 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior |
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| Holding | |
| SORNA's delegation of authority to the Attorney General does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. Judgement of the Second Circuit affirmed. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Kagan, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor |
| Concurrence | Alito (in judgment) |
| Dissent | Gorsuch, joined by Roberts, Thomas |
| Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Art. I | |