Pleas & Sentencing – Conditions of Supervised Release

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7^TH Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States v. Tyree Neal, Sr.

Case No.: 14-3473

Officials: POSNER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Practice Area: Pleas & Sentencing – Conditions of Supervised Release

Appellant appeals conditions of supervised release and their legality.

“We are not persuaded, however, by the broader language interpreting § 3583(e)(2) as implicitly barring challenges to the legality of current conditions of supervised release. When confronted with a serious challenge to the legality of a currently binding condition—one that could be enforced by sending the defendant back to prison—we believe a court would need much more explicit statutory direction than we find in the text of § 3583(e) to refuse to consider the issue. The alternative view would require a person under supervision who sought to challenge an ambiguous or arguably il‐ legal restraint on his liberty to violate the condition and to risk a return to prison. Consistent with this concern, the advisory committee notes to Rule 32.1 explain that a person on probation (and now supervised release) should be able to obtain clarification or modification of an ambiguous condition without first having to violate it. Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.1, Advisory Committee notes (1979).”

Affirmed

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