📅 This Week at a Glance (Nov 24–30, 2025)
Federal and New York courts issued key rulings extending registry-related punishment logic, while major residency-law and relief cases remain pending.
✅ Now in force
- No new laws enacted this week; prior Texas registry reforms remain most recent.
🕒 Moving / Introduced
- H.R. 6208 (“No Surrogacy for Sex Offenders Act”) remains in committee with no recorded hearings or markups.
⚖️ Courts / Agencies
- 7th Cir. — United States v. Cohen: false statement aiding SORNA evasion triggers “sex-offense–related” sentencing enhancement.
- NY — People v. Wagers: Appellate court upholds Level 3 designation based on diagnoses and online contact pattern.
Gaps this week: No new registry bills or rules filed; litigation continues to outpace legislation.
What’s ahead: Awaiting Eleventh Circuit en banc decision in Henry v. Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County on Alabama’s family-separation residency law.
⭐ Highlights
Two appellate opinions frame this quiet policy week.
Federal (7th Cir.) — United States v. Cohen
The Seventh Circuit ruled that lying to help someone evade SORNA registration qualifies for the harsher “sex-offense–related” obstruction guideline — even when the defendant isn’t a registrant.
New York — People v. Wagers
New York’s Appellate Division affirmed an upward departure to Level 3 under SORA, emphasizing paraphilic diagnoses and online contact with minors while rejecting claimed mitigating stability factors.
🔭 Watchlist
Ongoing major cases to monitor.
- Henry v. Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County — 11th Cir. en banc case on Alabama’s family-separation residency rule; amicus briefs emphasize family integrity and youth-offense proportionality. Amicus PDF
🔎 SEO focus (internal)
- sex offender registry case law 2025
- SORNA failure to register sentencing
- New York SORA risk level three upward departure
- Alabama sex offender residency law family separation
- juvenile sex offender registration constitutional challenges