Avelino Mendez v. Larry Small, Warden Attorney General State of California

The California Court of Appeal held that the change-of-address requirement of California’s sex offender registration statute is not satisfied when a sex offender, solely in the course of being booked into jail, provides his current address to the jailers for a fingerprint card and booking slip, without any indication that it is a new address. The Court of Appeal held that a reasonable person would know that he must affirmatively provide a change-of-address notice when he moves. We reject petitioner’s contention that the California Court of Appeal’s decision was an unforeseeable interpretation of the California statute that deprived him of the fair notice required by the due process clause. The state court decision was not an unforeseeable construction, nor was it an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law as determined by the United States Supreme Court. We reverse the district’s court ruling to the contrary.

I. Background

Petitioner is a registered sex offender. In 1991, petitioner registered with the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Office and listed a Victorville, California address. In March 1994, petitioner informed the San Bernardino County…