Fifth Circuit reverses lifetime term of supervised release in CP case

In United States v. Alvarado, the Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded a lifetime term of supervised release as part of a sentence for receipt of child pornography because the trial judge "never considered the possibility of anything less than lifetime supervision." No. 11-40771 (5th Cir. 2012).

The defendant appealed the sentence, arguing that it was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. The Fifth Circuit found the 170-month prison sentence to be reasonable but held otherwise for the lifetime term of supervised release under a plain error standard of review.

At trial, the judge noted, "I've never given, never not given, since it was authorized, a lifetime, a lifetime supervision in child pornography." Thus, as the Fifth Circuit understood it, she "never considered the possibility of anything less than lifetime supervision.... And where a judge admits to the automatic imposition of a sentence, without regard for the specific facts and circumstances of the case or the range provided for in the statute, then it seriously affects the fairness, integrity, and public reputation of judicial proceedings."

The sentencing guidelines allow for a range of three years to a lifetime term of supervised release for sex offenses.