U.S.S.G. §5F1.5

(a) The court may impose a condition of probation or supervised release prohibiting the defendant from engaging in a specified occupation, business,

or profession, or limiting the terms on which the defendant may do so, only

if it determines that:

(1) a reasonably direct relationship existed between the defendant’s occupation, business, or profession and the conduct relevant to the offense of conviction; and

(2) imposition of such a restriction is reasonably necessary to protect the

public because there is reason to believe that, absent such restriction,

the defendant will continue to engage in unlawful conduct similar to

that for which the defendant was convicted.

(b) If the court decides to impose a condition of probation or supervised release

restricting a defendant’s engagement in a specified occupation, business,

or profession, the court shall impose the condition for the minimum time

and to the minimum extent necessary to protect the public.

Commentary

Background: The Comprehensive Crime Control Act authorizes the imposition of occupational restrictions as a condition of probation, 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(5), or supervised release, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d).

Pursuant to § 3563(b)(5), a court may require a defendant to:

[R]efrain, in the case of an individual, from engaging in a specified occupation, business, or

profession bearing a reasonably direct relationship to the conduct constituting the offense,

or engage in such a specified occupation, business, or profession only to a stated degree or

under stated circumstances.

Section 3583(d) incorporates this section by reference. The Senate Judiciary Committee Report

on the Comprehensive Crime Control Act explains that the provision was “intended to be used to preclude the continuation or repetition of illegal activities while avoiding a bar from employment that

exceeds that needed to achieve that result.” S. Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 96–97. The condition

“should only be used as reasonably necessary to protect the public. It should not be used as a means

of punishing the convicted person.” Id. at 96. Section 5F1.5 accordingly limits the use of the condition

and, if imposed, limits its scope, to the minimum reasonably necessary to protect the public.

The appellate review provisions permit a defendant to challenge the imposition of a probation

condition under 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(5) if the sentence includes a more limiting condition of probation

or supervised release than the maximum established in the guideline. See 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a)(3). The

government may appeal if the sentence includes a less limiting condition of probation than the minimum established in the guideline. See 18 U.S.C. § 3742(b)(3).