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DC Circuit rejects 30-year ban on all computer use for sex offender

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this Wired story, "a federal appeals court Friday overturned a 30-year computer ban imposed on a sex offender caught in an online police sting."  The opinion came in US v. Russell, No. 08-3120 (DC Cir. Apr. 2, 2010) (available here), which begins this way: Defendant Mark Russell pleaded guilty to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b) (2006).  The district court sentenced him to 46 months of imprisonment and 30 years of supervised release.  A special condition of his supervised release specifies that Russell may not ?possess or use a computer for any reason.?  Russell challenges the duration of his supervised release and the computer restriction, arguing that each is substantively unreasonable...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 03, 2010 (boomark / email).