DOJ-OGR-00021121.jpg
Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 22-1426, Document 59, 02/28/2023, 3475902, Page/4 of 113
3656027, at *1 & n.1l (E.D. Pa. Sept. 15, 2010) (agreeing with Government’s
concession that the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, Pub.L. 109-248, 120 Stat.
587 (Jul. 27, 2006) (codified in relevant part at § 3299), which abolished the statute
of limitations for certain offenses against minors, did not apply retroactively to
allow prosecution of defendant under the Mann Act, even though the prior five-
year statute of limitations had not yet expired).
Judge Rakoff in this circuit observed that an expansion of a statute of
limitation is “retroactive” if it applies to past conduct, even when it merely extends
the time to bring an action that is not yet time-barred. Morales v. Irizarry, 976
F.Supp. 256, 258 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (citing Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 279) (“In the
absence of some such legislative indication, such a retroactive expansion of a
substantive provision like the statute of limitations will not be presumed”).
Morales was a civil case. But Landgraf’s “presumption against retroactive
legislation,” which “is deeply rooted in our jurisprudence,” 511 U.S. at 265,
applies with even stronger force in the criminal context. Unlike civil statutes,
“criminal limitations statutes are ‘to be liberally interpreted in favor of respose.’”
Toussie, 397 U.S. at 115 (quoting Scharton, 285 U.S. at 522). See U.S. v. Gentile,
235 F.Supp.3d 649, 655 (D.N.J. 2017). Consequently, the extension of a criminal
statute of limitations will not apply to pre-enactment conduct unless Congress has
clearly stated that it should.
59
DOJ-OGR-00021121
Extracted Information
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00021121.jpg |
| File Size | 666.6 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.4% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,612 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 20:07:27.516321 |