offender - Native American Legal Update http://www.nativelegalupdate.com/articles/jurisdictional-matters/ en-us Copyright 2011 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:37:48 -0800 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:45:20 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss DOJ Punts Tribal SORNA Implementation to States A deadline is approaching for tribes to implement the sex offender registration requirements (SORNA) of the Adam Walsh Act, a 2006 bill aimed at enhancing the powers of states and law enforcement states to monitor and civilly commit "sexually dangerous persons."

Tribes who enact their own systems will retain a degree of autonomy, although at least five tribes have explicitly opted out of implementing the requirements independently, and nine tribes have allowed the option to lapse by failing to file a Resolution of Other Enactment. These tribes will have their SORNA requirements handled by the states, after consultation with the Department of Justice's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehension, Registering and Tracking (SMART). Persistent ambiguity in tribal law can lead to ad hoc transfers of power and jurisdiction, in this case from from the Attorney General to the states. Even tribes who opted in to the program, but who have failed to implement according to the DOJ's timeframe, will lose their sovereignty to the states in this case.

The deadline to implement, or be deemed capable of doing so in a reasonable amount of time, is July 27, 2011.

]]> http://www.nativelegalupdate.com/2011/07/articles/jurisdictional-matters/doj-punts-tribal-sorna-implementation-to-states/ http://www.nativelegalupdate.com/2011/07/articles/jurisdictional-matters/doj-punts-tribal-sorna-implementation-to-states/ CriminalDOJDepartmentJurisdictionJurisdictional MattersJusticeSexStatesofoffender Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:37:48 -0800 Joe Heffernan