(E)  Crime of Moral Turpitude.  Failure to register as a sex offender, in violation of California Penal Code § 290(g)(1), for example, can be committed by merely forgetting to register.[152]  However, the DHS has been charging failure to register as a offender as a crime of moral turpitude.  This seems erroneous.  The statute punishes what should be considered a classic example of a regulatory offense, which has no “evil intent” requirement whatsoever.[153] In a very poorly reasoned decision, however, the BIA held that a California conviction of willful failure to register by a sex offender who has been previously apprised of the obligation to register, in violation of Penal Code § 290(g)(1), is a crime involving moral turpitude.[154]  This decision should be reversed by the Ninth Circuit, and any other circuit to consider whether a conviction under an analogous statute constitutes a crime of moral turpitude, since there is no reason failure to remember to register, or even refusing to register, should be considered a crime of moral turpitude.

[152] People v. Barker, 34 Cal.4th 345, 18 Cal.Rptr.3d 260 (2004).

[153] See § 20.22, infra.

[154] Matter of Tobar-Lobo, 24 I. & N. Dec. 143 (BIA 2007).

DEPORTATION " SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION VIOLATIONS
Nichols v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 1113 (Apr. 4, 2016) (sex offender was not required under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, 42 U.S.C. 16911(1), 16913(a), (c), to update his registration in Kansas once he left his home and moved to the Philippines, since SORNA did not apply to residents of foreign countries); abrogating United States v. Murphy, 664 F.3d 798 (10th Cir. Dec. 23, 2011). http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-5238_khlo.pdf

Ninth Circuit

DEPORTATION GROUNDS " FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER " FEDERAL CONVICTION ELEMENTS
United States v. Cabrera-Gutierrez, ___ F.3d ___, 2013 WL 2378574 (9th Cir. Jun. 3, 2013) (Congress has the authority to require a convicted sex offender who traveled interstate to register as a sex offender)

DEPORTATION " CONVICTION " FEDERAL " FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER " SORNA APPLIES RETROACTIVELY
United States v. Mattix, 694 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. Sept. 17, 2012) (the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act applied retroactively to defendant at the time he failed to register as a sex offender).

DEPORTATION " FEDERAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION " RETROACTIVITY
United States v. Elkins, 683 F.3d 1039 (9th Cir. Jun. 14, 2012) (applying SORNA to defendant based on his state conviction as a juvenile sex offender is not punitive, and therefore not a violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution).

DEPORTATION " FEDERAL CONVICTION OF FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER " ELEMENTS " NO REQUIREMENT GOVERNMENT PROVE THAT THE DEFENDANT KNEW OF REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT
United States v. Crowder, 656 F.3d 870 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2011) (affirming federal conviction for failing to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 18 U.S.C. 2250(a), where the government is not required to prove that a defendant knew that SORNA imposed a registration requirement in order to sustain a conviction under the statute).