US v. Ellis: In 2005 and 2006, Ellis was convicted of child pornography offenses in North Carolina. In 2013, he was convicted federal of failing to register as a sex offender. He completed his term of imprisonment and began a five-year term of supervised release in June 2014. Over the next seven years, Ellis had his supervised release revoked multiple times. The final revocation included the imposition of a pair of conditions to which Ellis objected – to an Internet device restriction that required Ellis to get permission from his probation officer and a location-monitoring requirement.
On appeal, a divided Fourth Circuit affirmed Ellis’ latest revocation sentence, including the challenged special conditions of the new term of supervised release. As to the device restriction, the court rejected Ellis’ argument that the condition amounted to a complete ban on Internet usage and an improper delegation of authority to his probation officer. The condition allowed use of any device for employment without approval and, for other uses, has a properly delegated process to apply the condition to other situations. The court also rejected Ellis’ argument against the location monitoring provision, noting that it relates both to his original offense (failing to register as a sex offender) and his “longstanding inability to remain in a physical location known to his probation officer.”
Judge Gregory dissented, arguing that both conditions were greater deprivations on liberty than required.
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