Pennsylvania man on supervised release has a live-in girlfriend, whom his supervising probation officer began having personal and inappropriate conversations with about the probation officer's love life. Man: this is harmful to my rehabilitation so I want my supervised release ended early. District Court: Yikes! Sounds like going through all this may have harmed your mental health and reintegration into society which means you actually need supervised release. So, request denied. Third Circuit: Yikes! If this is not the antithesis to assisting someone in transitioning back into the community, we do not know what is. We agree that you still need to be on supervised release, but we publish this decision to make it clear that the officer's conduct was reprehensible and the trial court should not have weighed it against you.
The case is United States v. Sheppard, No. 20-3088 (3d Cir. Nov. 3, 2021).