Reexamining Federal Supervised Release Conditions

Recidivism Reduction ,Early Release, early release from prison, Elderly Offender Pilot Program

What happens when a federal district court imposes a seemingly draconian or arbitrary condition on a defendant’s federal supervised release? Is this condition allowed to stand? The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed this issue in United States v. Mears and provided a necessary refresher on the requirement that any federal supervised release conditions…

Read More

Supervised Release Term Appeal Potentially Goes Awry

Supervised Release Term

One of the key strategic decisions in deciding whether to appeal a criminal sentence is whether there is a possibility to receive an even harsher sentence. In the case of United States v. Lopez-Pastrana, the First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a supervised release term that was imposed on a defendant who was not actually sentenced…

Read More

Supervised Release Length Cannot Be Based On Retribution

supervised release length

Federal supervised release is supposed to help offenders reintegrate into society after leaving prison. As such, supervised release length cannot be based on retribution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held. Kelvin Burden and Jermaine Buchanan were convicted of a racketeering conspiracy involving drugs and murder. Both were sentenced to life…

Read More

Special Conditions Of Supervised Release Vacated

special conditions of supervised release

A District Court can only impose special conditions of supervised release in certain circumstances. The District Court must find record evidence reasonably related to one of four factors: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; (2) the need … to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;…

Read More

Delegation Of Judicial Authority To Probation Officer Over Supervised Release Conditions Improper

Yarbrough, supervised release ,Judicial Authority,probation officer

After George Yarbrough was sentenced, the court included in its written judgment two special conditions of supervised release that required the defendant to: “’participate in a vocational training program as deemed necessary and approved by the probation officer’ and ‘participate in a mental health program as deemed necessary and approved by the probation officer.’” Yarbrough…

Read More

Hearsay Statements Not Automatically Admissible In Supervised Release Revocation Proceedings

hearsay ,balancing test, tenth circuit,hearsay,supervised release

Tremale Henry’ supervised release was revoked in part based on hearsay statements related to an alleged assault. Hearsay is an out of court statement that is offered for the truth of the matter asserted.Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.1(b)(2)(C) gives defendants in revocation proceedings the right to “question any adverse witness, unless the judge determines that…

Read More