United States v. Ellis, No. 19-4159 (4th Cir. 2021)
Nature of Case: Appellant was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender in federal court, and thereafter was sentenced to imprisonment and a term of supervised release. Appellant violated the conditions of his supervised release and was reincarcerated and given a new period of supervised release, during which the district court imposed certain conditions of release: to wit, that he have no access to the internet, and that he be prohibited from possessing legal pornography. Appellant objected to these conditions, and sought review.
Holding: 4th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the special conditions of supervision banning Appellant from the internet and from possessing legal pornography. The conditions were not reasonably related to Appellant’s offense or violations of supervised release, and thus were improper.