Opinion ID: 789255
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Support for the Mental Health Condition

Text: 31 The District Court is limited in its discretion to impose conditions on release by the supervised release statute, which is not open-textured. Evans, 155 F.3d at 248. The statute allows the court to impose a condition upon supervised release to the extent that the condition is reasonably related to certain factors set forth in § 3553(a)(1) & (2) and involves no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary to achieve the § 3553(a)(2) purposes. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d). The court must thus consider the following § 3553 factors in setting conditions on supervised release: 32 (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; 33 (2) the need for the sentence imposed — 34 ... 35 (B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct; 36 (C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and 37 (D) to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner; 38 18 U.S.C.A. § 3553(a). [I]t is not necessary for all of the factors identified in § 3553(a) to be present before a special condition of supervised release may be imposed.... United States v. Sicher, 239 F.3d 289, 291 (3d Cir.2000). 39 The § 3553(a) factors are fairly broad, but they do impose a real restriction on the district court's freedom to impose conditions on supervised release. Courts generally cannot impose such a condition — even one with a clearly rehabilitative purpose — without evidence that the condition imposed is reasonably related, that is, related in a tangible way, Evans, 155 F.3d at 249, to the crime or to something in the defendant's history. 40 This is not an especially high standard. At the same time, though, it is a standard with teeth: a condition with no basis in the record, or with only the most tenuous basis, will inevitably violate § 3583(d)(2)'s command that such conditions involve[] no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary. To facilitate review, a district court should state on the record its reasons for imposing any such condition. See United States v. Loy, 191 F.3d 360, 371 (3d Cir.1999). Not surprisingly, our sister Courts of Appeal have set aside conditions that had inadequate support in the record, as set forth in the margin. 3 41 Here, the District Court did not point to any evidence that any of the § 3553(a) factors were present in Pruden's case. As for § 3553(a)(1), neither the nature and circumstances of the offense, here an attempt to purchase a weapon illegally, nor the history and characteristics of the defendant, provide any evidence of a need for mental health treatment. The only evidence of Pruden's history and characteristics came from the PSR, which tends to show that Pruden has a generally good mental state with no history of mental illness. The PSR does detail a troubling family history, although, as the government itself argued at sentencing, this history is no worse than that of many other criminal defendants. And while Pruden has a long criminal history, this alone cannot demonstrate a need for mental health treatment — for if it did, virtually any repeat offender could be required to undergo such treatment. Cf. Evans, 155 F.3d at 249. 42 Similarly, while a district court may impose conditions on supervised release to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner, § 3553(a)(2)(D), we have no indication that there is in fact any need for mental health treatment. Again, the PSR does not report any need for mental health treatment. And no one even suggests that the mental health condition serves the preventive or deterrent functions of § 3553(a)(2)(B) or (C). 43 We are not unappreciative of the good intentions of the District Court, as exemplified by its statement to Pruden that the condition would give you the help you need when you get back on the street. In its desire to try to convert Pruden into a constructive member of society, the District Court indulged the notion that mental health treatment might help. But such a notion does not satisfy our jurisprudence. Moreover, imposition of a condition of supervised release creates significant costs for the probation system, 4 and can result in sanctions on the defendant for violation of the condition. 44 Given the complete absence of facts that would indicate a need for this mental health treatment, we cannot find that this condition is reasonably related to any of the allowable purposes of conditions on supervised release.