Opinion ID: 451894
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: condition on probation

Text: 29 Under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3651, a district court, 30 when satisfied that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public as well as the defendant will be served thereby, may suspend the imposition or execution of sentence and place the defendant on probation for such period and upon such terms and conditions as the court deems best. 31 (emphasis added). Conditions placed on probation are valid so long as they are reasonably related to the ends of probation. See United States v. John Scher Presents, Inc., 746 F.2d 959, 962-63 (3d Cir.1984); United States v. Restor, 679 F.2d 338, 340 (3d Cir.1982) (per curiam); United States v. Stine, 675 F.2d 69, 71 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 458 U.S. 1110, 102 S.Ct. 3493, 73 L.Ed.2d 1373 (1982); Higdon v. United States, 627 F.2d 893, 898 (9th Cir.1980); United States v. Tonry, 605 F.2d 144, 147 (5th Cir.1979). 32 Abushaar argues that the condition that he remain outside the United States during the term of his probation is not related to the purposes for which probation may be imposed, namely rehabilitation of the offender or the safety of the public. In United States v. Consuelo-Gonzalez, 521 F.2d 259, 263-64 (9th Cir.1975) (in banc), the court considered in depth the purposes of probation, referring to the numerous Supreme Court cases which have recognized that the rehabilitation aim was a central purpose of the Federal Probation Act. Whatever disenchantment with this goal is reflected in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, tit. II, 98 Stat. 1976, the purpose of rehabilitation was the guiding principle of the Probation Act under which Abushaar was sentenced. See, e.g., Higdon v. United States, 627 F.2d at 897. 33 We can discern no valid rehabilitative purpose in placing Abushaar outside the United States where his activities cannot be supervised by the probation authorities. Although federal probation is not required by statute to be supervised, as a matter of practice, supervision generally is an integral part of probation. The advantages of supervised probation would be particularly pertinent in Abushaar's case in light of his youth, and in light of the government's evaluation of him as a hard working individual who poses no threat to society. In view of the government's own assessment, there appears to be no reason to expect that Abushaar, following a period of supervised probation, would return to criminal behavior. 34 In the government's sentencing memorandum, the only reason given for suggesting banishment or exile of Abushaar was that it would serve the purpose of generally deterring others from committing similar offenses. It did not suggest to the district court that the purpose of banishing or exiling Abushaar was to punish him. Therefore we must evaluate the validity of this condition of probation in the light in which it has been presented, i.e., as one serving neither the purpose of rehabilitation nor of protecting the public, but as one that is designed only to deter other persons from committing similar offenses. 35 The government suggests that this court has accepted the view that general deterrence is alone a sufficient basis for a probation condition. It points to language in two recent cases of this court, quoting a passage of a Fifth Circuit case that: 36 A condition of probation satisfies the statute so long as it is reasonably related to rehabilitation of the probationer, protection of the public against other offenses during its term, deterrence of future misconduct by the probationer or general deterrence of others, condign punishment, or some combination of these objectives. 37 United States v. Tonry, 605 F.2d at 148 (emphasis added), quoted in United States v. John Scher Presents, 746 F.2d at 962 and United States v. Restor, 679 F.2d at 340. 38 Both of our cases concerned the propriety of community service as a condition of probation. In Restor, we affirmed a probation condition imposing community service, stating that the purpose of such service was to reinstate [the defendants] in society, ... [to] 'integrate [them] in a working environment, and inculcate in [them] a sense of social responsibility.'  679 F.2d at 340. These are patently permissible aims of probation, since they are directly related to rehabilitation of the offender. In John Scher Presents, we struck down a condition requiring defendants to contribute their services to charities approved by the Probation Department until they raised $100,000 because we found it exceeded the discretion of the district court under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3651 to order monetary payments. 746 F.2d at 964. In neither case did we hold that a condition on probation is proper if it serves only the end of general deterrence, and nothing in either holding derogates from our earlier statement of the law that conditions on probation must be reasonably related to rehabilitation and public safety, the ends of probation. United States v. Stine, 675 F.2d 69, 71 (3d Cir.1982) (citing Consuelo-Gonzalez, 521 F.2d at 265). See also United States v. Arthur, 602 F.2d 660, 664 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 992, 100 S.Ct. 524, 62 L.Ed.2d 422 (1979); Porth v. Templar, 453 F.2d 330, 333 (10th Cir.1971). Significantly, in the Fifth Circuit case on which the government relies, the court specifically found that the condition challenged there could be sustained because it is tailored to the needs of [the probationer's] rehabilitation. United States v. Tonry, 605 F.2d at 151. 39 We do not suggest that the deterrent effect of a condition of probation may not be taken into account by the district court. Moreover, we distinguish specific deterrence, which could be related to protection of the public, from general deterrence, which is relied on by the government here. As the Ninth Circuit has stated, 40 [C]onditions which serve to protect the public from recidivism by the probationer or to deter others by way of example are not contrary to the purposes of the Act so long as all the conditions construed together serve substantially the purpose of rehabilitation. 41 United States v. Consuelo-Gonzalez, 521 F.2d at 267. 42 We believe that is a correct statement of the law. Thus we hold that since the condition that Abushaar serve his probation outside the United States was completely unrelated to his rehabilitation or the protection of the public, imposition of such a condition was an abuse of discretion. 43 We also accept Abushaar's argument that the banishment condition of his probation amounts, de facto, to deportation and circumvents the law and regulations relating to deportability of aliens. Historically, 44 [b]anishment has its roots in antiquity. It is listed as a punishment in the oldest recorded system of law, The Code of Hammurabi, which was written around 1700 B.C. In ancient Greece, it served both as a punishment and as a means of ostracization by popular vote without trial or accusation. Banishment was employed by the Romans both as a prohibition against entering the city and as an exile to a specific territory. 45 Note, Banishment--A Medieval Tactic in Modern Criminal Law, 5 Utah L.Rev. 365 (1957). The legendary and historical recognition of the harshness of banishment or exile is reflected in the fate of Adam and Eve, or Socrates' choice to drink the hemlock rather than leave Athens. Some scholars speculate that, in primitive societies, banishment was tantamount to death. See, e.g., H. Barnes & N. Teeters, New Horizons in Criminology 294 (3d ed. 1959). With time, more developed societies have tended to eliminate banishment and analogous punishments, such as transportation, i.e., the sending of criminals to distant colonies. 46 The treatment of banishment as a condition of probation in this country has been summarized by scholars in the field as follows: 47 When the condition orders the probationer ... to leave a broad geographical region, ... the condition ... is usually invalidated. Courts give several reasons for striking down these banishment conditions. A common rationale is that banishment serves neither a rehabilitative nor a public protection function.... 48 A second rationale is that the banishment condition is against public policy because it permits one jurisdiction to dump its criminals on another jurisdiction. 49 N. Cohen & J. Gobert, The Law of Probation and Parole 262-63 (1983) (footnotes omitted). See also Note, Limitations Upon Trial Court Discretion in Imposing Conditions of Probation, 8 Ga.L.Rev. 466 (1974). 2 50 Citizens are generally considered to have a right to remain in their country and aliens may be deported only in accordance with the carefully designed federal statutory and regulatory scheme. In the most closely analogous case, United States v. Castillo-Burgos, 501 F.2d 217 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1010, 95 S.Ct. 330, 42 L.Ed.2d 284 (1974), the district court had sentenced a defendant convicted of attempting to import marijuana from Mexico to the custody of the Attorney General to be confined for six months and then permanently deported, with five years' probation. The Ninth Circuit held that deportation was beyond the sentencing judge's authority and vacated the order, stating: 51 Congress has enacted laws governing the admission, expulsion, and deportation of aliens, 8 U.S.C. Secs. 1181-1255. Those laws delegate authority to order deportation to the Attorney General and not to the judiciary. 8 U.S.C. Secs. 1251-1255. Nowhere in this detailed statutory scheme is there a provision for a court to deport aliens sua sponte. 52 501 F.2d at 219-20. Similarly, in United States v. Hernandez, 588 F.2d 346, 350-52 (2d Cir.1978), the Second Circuit struck down a condition placed on an offender's parole that he not return to the United States for 25 years. The court stated: 53 The no-return condition would short-circuit Congress's scheme and assume an unwarranted exercise of the Attorney General's authority just as effectively as if the sentence had contained a direct order of deportation and exclusion. 54 Id. at 351. The Hernandez court followed Castillo-Burgos and held that the condition imposed exceeded the authority of the sentencing judge. 55 We rely on the same rationale to strike the banishment condition imposed on Abushaar. A condition of probation may not circumvent another statutory scheme. See Higdon v. United States, 627 F.2d at 898; see also United States v. Pastore, 537 F.2d 675, 682-83 (2d Cir.1976) (invalidating probation condition that attorney resign from bar given well-defined procedures for expulsion from the bar). Whether and how to initiate deportation procedures is exclusively the province of the Attorney General, through the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 3