Search condition for supervised release on a financial crime was not an abuse of discretion

Intrusive search condition for defendant who pled to a financial crime was not an abuse of discretion. In fact, it almost cannot be an abuse of discretion under Samson. The district court could justifiably be concerned that defendant’s conduct was not aberrational, despite his claims to the contrary. United States v. Betts, 511 F.3d 872 (9th Cir. 2007):

Betts argues that the court abused its discretion because he had no prior convictions and had fully accepted responsibility for his crime. We cannot characterize the judge’s exercise of discretion as an abuse, even though it is very intrusive. First, the public is entitled to protection against the possibility that Betts’s conduct may not have been so aberrational as he contends, and considering his skill and success in committing this subtle fraud, protection will not be easy.

Second, the Supreme Court recently held in Samson v. California, that a similarly worded condition imposed by statute on all California parolees did not violate the Fourth Amendment, even though the condition did not require reasonable suspicion. The Court considered the high risk of recidivism for people convicted of crimes, and the problem that “[i]mposing a reasonable suspicion requirement … would give parolees greater opportunity to anticipate searches and conceal criminality.” Because the blanket requirement imposed by California on state parolees did not violate the Fourth Amendment, a fortiori the individualized requirement imposed in this case on supervised release does not. There is no sound reason for distinguishing parole from supervised release with respect to this condition. The federal system has abolished parole, and uses supervised release to supervise felons after they get out of prison. People on supervised release have not completed their sentences, they are serving them. The Court in Samson itself drew the analogy to supervised release. After Samson, there is no room for treating the search condition in this case as an abuse of discretion.