If you move from Kansas to the Philippines, do you still “reside” in Kansas? Seems simple, right? The Supreme Court thought so, too.
In Nichols v. United States, No. 15–5238, the Court said no, in a unanimous, eight-page opinion issued just a month after oral argument.
Lester Nichols was convicted of a sex offense and required to register under SORNA. He lived (and registered) in Kansas for about a year, before he “disconnected all of his telephone lines, deposited his apartment keys in his landlord’s drop-box, and boarded a flight to Manila.” Slip op., at 3. Nicholas was arrested in the Philippines a month later and charged with failing to update his registration in Kansas, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a).
Nichols moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that he was not required to update his registration in Kansas because he no longer “resided” there. The district …