United States v. Gary Evans Jackson

BERZON, Circuit Judge:

Gary Jackson was indicted for violating 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c), 1 which punishes any United States citizen “who travels in foreign commerce, and engages in any illicit sexual conduct with another person.” The district court held that application of this statute to Jackson’s conduct might well violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution, and interpreted the statute narrowly to avoid any constitutional infirmity. We concentrate on the statutory interpretation question and approach it somewhat differently: Using any reasonable definition of the word “travel,” we…