The Fourth Circuit held that conditions of supervised release banning legal pornography and internet access are too restrictive and cannot be sustained as "reasonably related" under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(1) and are overbroad under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(2). The court explained that the district court abused its discretion in imposing an outright ban on defendant possessing legal pornography or entering any location where it may be accessed.
The defendant served 15 months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender, for earlier state convictions for possession of child pornography. He struggled with homelessness and mental health issues, and went back to prison several times for violating the conditions of his supervised release, such as traveling without permission and failing to cooperate with his treatment programs. As a condition of supervised release, the district court barred him from accessing the internet, possessing any legal or illegal pornographic material, or entering any location where such materials could be viewed.
The circuit stated that pornography use was not the basis of any violation. Further, when defendant lied about watching pornography during a polygraph exam at the outset of his sex offender treatment, the violative conduct was dishonesty, not pornography consumption. Finally, the pornography restriction impermissibly restricts more liberty than is reasonably necessary.
The case is United States v. Ellis, No. 19-04159 (4th Cir. Jan. 8, 2021).