Criminal – Conditions of Supervised Release

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case No.: 15-1208

Case Name: United States of America v. Ronald Douglas

Officials: FLAUM, WILLIAMS, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Pertinent Practice Areas: Criminal – Conditions of Supervised Release

Courts imposition of strict conditions of supervised release were valid as applied.

“The strict liability concerns from Thompson and Kappes are not present here. The condition imposed for Douglas states that he shall not knowingly associate with any persons engaged in criminal activity or with any person convicted of a felony. The condition also specifies that Douglas may seek permission from his probation officer if he wants to associate with convicted felons. Consider, for example, the possibility that he might want to associate with others with felony records in a job, a church, or an alcohol abuse treatment pro‐ gram. Similarly, if Douglas genuinely did not understand what is meant by “associate,” he should have raised the is‐ sue with the district court. He did not. With the knowledge requirement and ample room for exceptions, the district court did not plainly err by imposing this condition.”

Affirmed.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.