MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
The defendant has been charged with receiving and possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) and 18 U.S.C. .§ 2252(a)(4)(B). Filing No. 1. Pending before me is defendant’s “Objection to Proposed Release Conditions,” (filing no. 7), interpreted as a motion to remove conditions of release imposed on February 9, 2009. The court imposed electronic monitoring and a curfew in accordance with the Adam Walsh Amendments of the Bail Reform Act, (18 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(1)(B)). See, filing no. 13, ¶ 7(i). The defendant claims the Adam Walsh Amendments violate the Due Process Clause because they mandate certain release conditions in child pornography cases, including electronic monitoring and a curfew, without a judicial determination of whether such restrictions are needed to assure the defendant’s appearance at trial or to protect the public.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The defendant appeared before me for an initial appearance and detention hearing on February 9, 2009. Filing No. 10 (audio file). As to the issue of pretrial detention, the only evidence offered by the government was the report prepared by pretrial services.
The defendant is charged with receiving and possessing photographic depictions of child pornography through his computer. Accordingly, the court has imposed conditions of release prohibiting the defendant’s access to a computer without prior approval of the court or his supervising pretrial services officer, prohibiting defendant from accessing the internet, email, or online inter-computer communications, and requiring the defendant to submit to
Likewise, he has strong ties to this community. He is a life-long resident of Nebraska and presently lives and works in the town in which he grew up. He is employed, having held the same job for a year and a half, and has family in the community. He has not traveled internationally and has no passport. There is no evidence of any risk of flight.
Release conditions imposing a curfew and electronic monitoring can assist the government in knowing where a defendant is while he is released pending trial, but that assistance is limited. It is unlikely, for example, that a curfew or electronic monitoring can or would serve to prevent or curtail a defendant’s receipt and possession of child pornography through the use of a computer, since computers are available for public use in numerous places, and may be available to a particular person at a friend’s residence. Likewise, prohibited material could be brought to a defendant’s house despite the defendant’s curfew and' electronic monitoring. Curfews and electronic monitoring are tools better suited to limit a person’s movements when he is a flight risk; this defendant is not a flight risk. The government has failed to show that curfews and electronic monitoring are release conditions tailored to prevent any foreseeable risk of harm or flight defendant Merritt may pose if he is released pending trial. 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g).
Despite these findings, the court entered an order requiring a curfew and electronic monitoring as conditions of defendant’s pretrial release as required under the Adam Walsh Amendments to the Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(c)(1)(B). The defendant immediately objected to these conditions, claiming the release condition requirements of the Adam Walsh Amendments violate his rights under the Due Process Clause. For the reasons discussed below, the court agrees. The order setting conditions of defendant’s release will be amended to exclude the conditions imposing a curfew and electronic monitoring.
■LEGAL ANALYSIS
Pursuant to the Bail Reform Act of 1984, when a person charged with a federal crime appears before the court, the judge or magistrate judge must “order the pretrial release of the person on personal recognizance, or upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond in an amount specified by the court ... unless the judicial officer determines that such release will not reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required or will endanger the safety of any other person or the community.” 18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(b). The government bears the burden of proving the defendant is a flight risk or poses a risk of harm such that the defendant should not be released or, if he or she is to be released pending trial, the release must
If the government meets its burden, the judge or magistrate judge must then “order the pretrial release of the person ... subject to the least restrictive further condition, or combination of conditions, that such judicial officer determines ■will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of any other person and the community.” 18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(c). In deciding what release conditions are warranted, the court must consider “the available information” concerning:
• the nature and circumstances of the charged offense; specifically, whether the alleged offense was a crime of violence, a federal crime of terrorism, or involved a minor victim or a controlled substance, firearm, explosive, or destructive device; (18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(g)(1));
• the weight of the evidence against the person, (18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(g)(2));
• the history and characteristics of the person, (18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(g)(3)), including:
(A) the person’s character, physical and mental condition, family ties, employment, financial resources, length of residence in the community, community ties, past conduct, history relating to drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history, and record concerning appearance at court proceedings; and
(B) whether, at the time of the current offense or arrest, the person was on probation, on parole, or on other release pending trial, sentencing, appeal or completion of sentence for an offense under Federal, State, or local law; and
• the nature and seriousness of the danger to any person or the community that would be posed by the person’s release, (18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(g)(4)).
18 U.S.C.A. § 3142(g). If the government proves by clear and convincing evidence that no release condition or set of conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community, and by a preponderance of the evidence that no release condition or set of conditions would reasonably assure the defendant’s appearance at trial, the defendant must be detained pending trial.
U.S. v. Orta,
Prior to enactment of the Adam Walsh Amendments in 2006, the Bail Reform Act did not mandate certain conditions of release if the victim of the crime was a child. However, the Adam Walsh Amendments created, in essence, an irrebuttable presumption that a defendant charged with violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2250 (SORNA), or a crime involving kidnapping and/or sexually abusing a minor, buying or selling a minor, child pornography, or child prostitution (see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1201, 1591, 2241, 2242, 2244(a)(1), 2245, 2251, 2251A, 2252(a)(1), 2252(a)(2), 2252(a)(3), 2252A(a)(1), 2252A(a)(2), 2252A(a)(3), 2252A(a)(4), 2260, 2421, 2422, 2423, or 2425), cannot be released pending trial unless the court orders, among other things, electronic monitoring and compliance with a curfew.
U.S. v. Crowell
The Bail Reform Act of 1984, as it existed prior to the 2006 Adam Walsh Amendments, was challenged on due process grounds in
U.S. v. Salerno,
Although pretrial detention may, in certain cases, serve a legitimate government purpose, the detention or conditions of release imposed cannot be excessive in relation to the purpose.
Bell,
[Tjhese extensive safeguards suffice to repel a facial challenge.... Given the legitimate and compelling regulatory purpose of the Act and the procedural protections it offers, we conclude that the Act is not facially invalid under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Salerno,
In contrast to the due process safeguards cited in
Salerno,
under the Adam Walsh Amendments to the Bail Reform Act, if the defendant is charged with a crime listed in the amendments, there is no evidence the defendant can offer to escape electronic monitoring and a curfew as conditions of release. The Adam Walsh Amendments rely on the underlying, irrebuttable presumption that as to all persons charged with one of the crimes listed in the amendments, such persons pose a risk to the public and others if released prior to trial without, for example, a curfew and electronic monitoring. As to the conditions of electronic monitoring and a cur
A curfew with electronic monitoring restricts the defendant’s ability to move about at will and implicates a liberty interest protected under the Due Process Clause.
U.S. v. Arzberger,
When government action depriving a person of life, liberty, or property survives substantive dues process scrutiny, it must still be implemented in a fair manner.... This requirement has traditionally been referred to as procedural due process.
Salerno,
Although a curfew and electronic monitoring may advance legitimate governmental interests during pretrial release in some cases, as to those defendants charged with crimes listed in the Adam Walsh Amendments, the amendments eviscerate the government’s duty to present evidence, the defendant’s reasonable opportunity to offer opposing evidence, and the judicial review and determination otherwise required under 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g) of the Bail Reform Act. Under such circumstances, the procedural due process afforded is not only inadequate, it is nonexistent.
No defendant charged with a crime listed in the Adam Walsh Amendments is afforded a meaningful opportunity to present evidence to rebut the presumption that defendant’s movement must be restricted by a curfew and electronic monitoring pending trial. The Adam Walsh Amendments to the Bail Reform Act are unconstitutional on their face because, as to every defendant charged with a crime listed in the amendments, the amendments foreclose any individualized judicial consideration of the interests otherwise required to be considered under 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g).
Arzberger,
Imposing a curfew and electronic monitoring as conditions of defendant Merritt’s pretrial release solely on the basis of the Adam Walsh Amendments would violate the defendant’s right to procedural due process. Upon consideration of the government’s evidence and the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g), I further find that imposing a curfew and electronic monitoring as release conditions will not serve to “reasonably assure” defendant Merritt’s appearance at trial or protect other persons or.the community, the standard set forth in the Bail Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3142(g).
IT THEREFORE HEREBY IS ORDERED:
1. The defendant’s motion to remove conditions of release, (filing no. 7), is granted.
2. The Order Setting Conditions of Release, (filing no. 13), is hereby amended. The condition of release imposing a curfew with electronic monitoring, (filing no. 13, ¶ 7(i)), is removed.
