Opinion ID: 796830
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Application of Souser

Text: 38 The issue is whether this new verification policy constitutes an occupational restriction like the one we reviewed in Souser. We conclude that it does not. 39 The distinctions between the two policies make a difference in two important respects. First, the burdens on probationers are entirely different. Under the prior notification policy, the probationer had a pre-employment obligation to inform potential employers about his or her criminal history. In this sense, employer notification conditions the probationer's employment — before beginning any job, a probationer had to affirmatively notify a potential employer of his criminal history, including details of risks that may be occasioned by the defendant's criminal record or personal history or characteristics. Souser, 405 F.3d at 1163-64. And if the probationer failed to give the requisite notice, the policy required the probation officer to notify the employer. Thus, under this policy a probationer could not accept any work without the requisite disclosures, and the disclosures might include information far afield from the offense of conviction. 3 40 In contrast, the verification policy does not require the probationer to do anything as a condition of employment. Instead, it requires probation officers to verify a probationer's employment status, with no affirmative obligation on the probationer. Nor is a probationer penalized if a probation officer fails to verify his employment. The policy places no obligation on the probation officer to provide information about a probationer's crime or criminal history. In fact, the probationer can continue his employment regardless of whether a probation officer enforces the verification policy. The new policy, in short, does not limit the terms of employment under the plain meaning of § 5F1.5. 41 Second, the goals underlying the notification and verification policies are entirely different. The notification policy at issue in Souser mandated disclosure of a probationer's criminal history to an employer. The apparent goal of the policy was to reduce employers' and third parties' risks by ensuring that the employer knew of a potential employee's criminal background prior to hiring the employee. 42 The goal of the verification policy is broader and is not focused on the employer's knowledge. The verification policy instead implements the probation officer's statutory duty to monitor a probationer's progress toward rehabilitation. See 18 U.S.C. § 3603(2) (requiring a probation officer to keep informed, to the degree required by the conditions specified by the sentencing court, as to the conduct and condition of a probationer . . . and report his conduct and condition to the sentencing court); id. § 3603(3) (requiring a probation officer to use all suitable methods . . . to aid a probationer . . . and to bring about improvements in his conduct and condition); id. § 3603(4) (requiring a probation officer to be responsible for the supervision of any probationer); id. 3603(5) (requiring a probation officer to keep a record of [the probationer's] work). The rehabilitative goals of probation depend on reliable information about the probationer's life and conduct that may only be obtained by personal contact with a probationer's employer. 4 Thus, the verification policy furthers important statutory obligations, and, as we have noted, it does not conflict with the plain meaning of § 5F1.5. 43 We also note that Souser focused on required disclosures and did not bar all contact between an employer and a probation officer. Of course, the verification policy may inevitably result in some employers finding out about an employee's criminal history. But nonetheless we cannot construe every policy that has the potential for notification as an occupational restriction. As a matter of fact, many job applicants are already routinely asked about their criminal status when applying for jobs, so at worst a verification policy discloses nothing more than what the employer already knows about an employee. Moreover, reading § 5F1.5 so broadly as to apply to any contacts between probation officers and employers that might result in disclosure of information about an individual's criminal history could unduly restrict the use of other common and essential conditions of probation. For example, probation often includes garnishment of wages for restitution or workplace visits by a probation officer, both of which could notify an employer of a probationer's status. Taken to its extreme, any contact with an employer might lead to notification of a probationer's criminal history. Section 5F1.5 does not extend so far. And in any event, we presume and expect that under the verification policy, a probation officer will exercise reasonable discretion in determining whether personal contact with an employer is necessary in a particular case to carry out his statutory duties. 44 Du and Chavez argue that the differences in policies are trivial. They argue the problem with the employment notification policy is not that employment is conditioned on notification, but that notification occurs at all, and this objection applies equally to the verification policy. They claim adverse consequences are likely to flow from verification, including termination, increased monitoring by the employer, or disclosure of a probationer's criminal status to their peers. 45 But the notification policy in Souser was not an occupational restriction merely because of possible adverse consequences. It was an occupational restriction because notification was required as a condition of employment. The verification policy, however, places no preconditional terms of employment on the probationer. A probationer may accept any form of employment, engage in any task required by this employment, and need not disclose anything to his employer as a result of the verification policy. Nor does the policy require employers to be told information about a probationer's criminal history. It only requires that the probation officer confirm the fact of employment, not disclose the details of the probationer's offenses. 46 Finally, we note the record developed before the district court suggests that adverse consequences of notification and verification are exaggerated. Only a small percentage of probationers actually lost work as a result of employer contacts that probation officers routinely made prior to adoption of the verification policy. We also note that probationers who object to employment verification are entitled to seek exclusion from the policy on a case-by-case basis. 47 In sum, the employment verification policy does not place any limit[s] on the terms of employment, § 5F1.5, or require a probationer to engage in [] a specified occupation, business, or profession only to a stated degree or under stated circumstances. 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(5). Accordingly, it is not an occupational restriction requiring individualized or case-by-case implementation.