Opinion ID: 2982371
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the life term of supervised release

Text: Defendant next argues that the district court committed procedural error when it imposed a life term of supervised release. “Congress insists that lifetime supervision be available to courts in sentencing sexual offenders.” United States v. Kennedy, 499 F.3d 547, 553 (6th Cir. 2007). The district court in this case had to sentence Defendant to at least five years of supervised release, and was permitted to impose a life term. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(k). The Guidelines urge district courts to impose the maximum term available for sex offenders. See U.S.S.G. § 5D1.2(b). Section 4B1.5 carries its own presumption that a life term of supervised release is appropriate. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.5 application note 5(A). It was the job of the district court to consider these Guidelines and the relevant sentencing factors from 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) to determine what duration of supervised release was appropriate. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(c). Although the Guidelines counsel a lifetime of supervision, the district court still had to explain why it chose this term. See United States v. Inman, 666 F.3d 1001, 1004 (6th Cir. 2012) (per curiam). “Without proper analysis and an explanation for the length of the supervised release term chosen, we cannot review the reasonableness of the sentence as imposed.” Id. The district court did not explicitly give its reasoning for selecting a life term, but the court did fully explain why it concluded that 190 months of incarceration was appropriate. “In outlining its United States v. Leach, 491 F.3d 858, 867 (8th Cir. 2007) (holding that “the term ‘conviction’ in § 4B1.5(a) [] only requir[es] an adjudication of guilt”). No. 13-3958 United States v. Babcock Page 8 reasons for imposing the sentence of incarceration . . . the district court was also outlining the reasons supporting the [term] of supervised release,” even though the court did not do so explicitly. United States v. Zobel, 696 F.3d 558, 572 (6th Cir. 2012). But Defendant contends that our decision in Inman requires us to vacate his term of supervised release. The defendant in Inman was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. See Inman, 666 F.3d at 1003. Although the defendant and the government agreed that a ten-year term of supervised release was appropriate, the court ordered lifetime supervision without explanation. See id. at 1003–04. The court also imposed several onerous conditions of supervised release addressing substance abuse, electronics the defendant could own, and financial information the defendant would be required to hand over to his probation officer. See id. at 1004–06. Again, the court did not explain the need for these conditions and we found little support for them in the record. See id. Considering all of these factors, we held that the district court had committed plain error, which required us to vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. See id. at 1006–07. Inman does not compel the same result here. Defendant pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, not possession of child pornography. Defendant’s crime and criminal history warranted the repeat child sex offender enhancement—not at issue in Inman—which carries its own recommendation of lifetime supervision. Section 4B1.5(a) only applies where the defendant has committed more than one sex offense—that is, where the defendant has already proved to be a continuing risk to the community. Unlike in Inman, the government in this case requested a life term of supervised release. And unlike in Inman, Defendant does not challenge any onerous or unusual conditions of supervised release. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that “the length of supervised release . . . [is] likely more severe than if the district court had followed the correct procedures.” Id. at 1007. Thus Defendant cannot show that the district court’s failure to explicitly lay out the reasoning supporting a life term of supervised release was plain error.