Can I challenge unlawful discretionary conditions that were added on to my federal probation?

YES. If you think that a discretionary condition is illegal, then you can appeal the condition. For a federal probation condition to be lawful:

    It must be “reasonably related” to the nature and circumstances of the offense, your personal history and characteristics, any concerns of public safety, and the need to provide you educational or job training, medical care, or correctional treatment; AND
    Cannot deprive you of liberty (meaning, your ability to live your life freely without excessive restrictions) any more than “reasonably necessary” to deter future crimes, protect the public, and provide you with training and treatment.[930]

Courts have emphasized that BOTH of these requirements must be met to impose a DISCRETIONARY CONDITION on you.[931] If you object to a special condition, it is the government’s responsibility (NOT yours) to show that the condition is legally justified.[932] We suggest that you speak with an attorney if you think a condition of your probation is illegal.

  1. 930

    18 U.S.C. § 3583(d). ↑

  2. 931

    See, e.g., U.S. v. Bender, 566 F.3d 78 (8th Cir. 2009); U.S. v. Perazza-Mercado, 553 F.3d 65 (1st Cir. 2009); U.S. v. Pruden, 398 F.3d 241, 249 (3d Cir. 2005). ↑

  3. 932

    U.S. v. Weber, 451 F.3d 553 (9th Cir. 2006) (“We have long held that a term of supervised release is part of a defendant’s sentence . . . and, like imprisonment, restricts a defendant’s liberty and fundamental rights . . .. As a result, when the government seeks to restrict a defendant’s liberty through a term of supervised release, it shoulders the burden of proving that a particular condition of supervised release involves no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary to serve the goals of supervised release.”). ↑