Opinion ID: 3013485
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the District Court erred by imposing a

Text: condition of supervised release prohibiting Freeman from using or possessing a computer. As an initial matter, we note that both the government and Freeman agree that the District Court erred in failing to state a basis for the computer restriction imposed as part of Freeman’s supervised release. See United States v. Loy, 191 F.3d 360, 371 (3d Cir. 1999) (sentencing judge is required by statute to state the reasons in open court for imposing a particular sentence). Thus, we will remand for the District Court to substantiate the reasoning behind its conditions of supervised release. We also agree with Freeman that a special condition forbidding him from possessing any computer in his home or using any on-line computer service without the written approval of the probation officer is overly broad; it involves a greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary to deter future criminal conduct and to protect the public. 18 U.S.C. S 2553(a)(2). United States v. Sofsky, 287 F.3d 122, 124 (2d Cir. 2002) (vacating condition that would require probation officer to approve all computer and 10 internet access by a defendant who pled guilty to receiving child pornography over the internet). As in Sofsky, a total ban on internet access prevents use of email, an increasingly widely used form of communication, and other common-place computer uses such as getting a weather forecast or reading a newspaper online. Id. at 126. There is no need to cut off Freeman’s access to email or benign internet usage when a more focused restriction, limited to pornography sites and images, can be enforced by unannounced inspections of material stored on Freeman’s hard drive or removable disks. Id. Although we have previously allowed a condition restricting all internet access, see United States v. Crandon, 173 F.3d 122, 125 (3d Cir. 1999), the defendant in Crandon used the internet to contact young children and solicit inappropriate sexual contact with them. Such use of the internet is harmful to the victims contacted and more difficult to trace than simply using the internet to view pornographic web sites. There is nothing in this record to suggest that Freeman has used the internet to contact young children. We are not in any way limiting our ability to so restrict the use of computers when a defendant has a past history of using the internet to contact children. See United States v. Lee, ___ F.3d ___, ___ fn 1 (3d Cir. 2002) (Condition 5 of supervised release prohibits defendant from owning or using a personal computer with Internet access in his home, except for work). Moreover, if Freeman does not abide by more limited conditions of release permitting benign internet use, it might be appropriate to ban all use. Under the record before us, however, it is not reasonably necessary to restrict all of Freeman’s access to the internet when a more limited restriction will do.4