Motion to Modify Release Conditions Page 1

Terri Wood, OSB #883325

Law Office of Terri Wood, P.C.

730 Van Buren Street

Eugene, Oregon 97402

541-484-4171

Fax: 541-485-5923

Email: contact@terriwoodlawoffice.com

Attorney for Jon Ritzheimer

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

 Plaintiff,

-VSJON RITZHEIMER,

 Defendant

Case No. 3:16-CR-00051-02-BR

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO MODIFY 

CONDITIONS OF RELEASE

COMES NOW the Defendant, Jon Ritzheimer, through counsel Terri Wood, 

and moves the Court to modify conditions of his release pending voluntary 

surrender for execution of sentence on February 16, 2018, to delete the 

condition prohibiting his use of all social media for any purpose, that he agreed 

to not contest when it was first imposed on January 30, 2017, upon the 

grounds and authorities set forth below, and the facts set forth in the 

supporting Declaration of Counsel filed herewith. 

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Defendant so moves because (1) the circumstances giving rise to this 

condition no longer exist; (2) his earlier waiver of right to contest this condition 

does not bar a claim now that the condition is an unconstitutional infringement 

of his First Amendment Free Speech rights; (3) deletion of the condition is 

necessary for Mr. Ritzheimer to promote his filed candidacy for a Congressional 

seat in Arizona and to otherwise engage in protected political speech; and (4) 

the condition is unnecessary to assure his surrender to the designated BOP 

facility and unnecessary to protect the safety of any person or the public.

Defense counsel has consulted with the Government, and the 

Government opposes the modification. 

To expedite resolution of this motion, once the Government has the 

opportunity to be heard, the defense requests that, if the modification is 

approved, a minute order be entered in the docket as follows:

The conditions of release for Jon Ritzheimer are modified to allow his use 

of social media for any lawful purpose.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED on December 22, 2017

/s/ Terri Wood

TERRI WOOD OSB 883325

Attorney for Ritzheimer

POINTS & AUTHORITIES 

1. Mr. Ritzheimer was sentenced to one year and one day imprisonment 

on November 30, 2017, and allowed to remain on release pending execution of 

sentence currently set for February 16, 2018. Conditions of release include a 

prohibition on his use of any social media for any purpose with the exception of 

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posting on Facebook to promote his business. Earlier this month Mr. Ritzheimer 

filed as a candidate in a 2018 Special Primary Election for U.S. Representative, 

District 8, after determining that neither his status as a convicted felon nor his 

upcoming imprisonment were legal bars to candidacy. Social media is a common 

forum for political speech, recently recognized by the Supreme Court as 

“perhaps the most powerful mechanisms available to a private citizen to make 

his or her voice heard. They allow a person with an Internet connection to 

‘become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any 

soapbox’.” Packingham v. North Carolina, 137 S.Ct. 1730, 1738 (2017). 

Furthermore, political speech is “central to the meaning and purpose of the First 

Amendment.” Citizens United v. Federal Election Com'n, 130 S.Ct. 876, 890, 

558 U.S. 310, 326 (2010).

2. Mr. Ritzheimer agreed to the January 2017 modification of his release 

conditions barring him from all social media that was sought by Pretrial Services, 

recognizing that his use at that time was a distraction impeding his progress in 

treatment. The First Amendment is a constitutional right that “functions to 

preserves spheres of autonomy” from government influence and control; thus, 

under the “unconstitutional conditions” doctrine, his earlier waiver of the right 

to challenge this condition is no bar to his current challenge and request for 

modification. See, United States v. Scott, 450 F.3d 863, 865-66 (9th Cir. 

2006)(defendant’s acceptance of release condition for warrantless searches at 

the unbridled discretion of pretrial officer did not constitute a valid waiver of his 

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Fourth Amendment rights for purposes of seeking suppression of evidence 

seized during such a search).

3. Mr. Ritzheimer’s standard and special conditions of supervised release 

contain no restriction on his use of social media. The goal of release conditions 

under 18 USC §3142(c)(N)—“to assure the safety of any other person and the 

community”—is one of the same goals that supervised release conditions are 

designed to promote. See 18 U.S.C. §3583(d) and 18 U.S.C. §3553(a). Title 18 

U.S.C. §3583(d) authorizes the district court to order special conditions of 

supervised release if such conditions are reasonably related to the factors 

contained in 18 U.S.C. §3553(a). Section 3553(a) provides, in relevant part, 

that “[t]he court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than 

necessary . . . to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant.” 18 

U.S.C. §3553(a). Thus, the considered opinion of the Hon. Anna J. Brown, U.S. 

District Court Judge, in reviewing voluminous records concerning Mr. 

Ritzheimer’s character and background, including exemplary progress in 

treatment since January 2017, should weigh in favor of the requested 

modification. The Bail Reform Act requires imposition of the least restrictive 

conditions of release that promote the goal of public safety.

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