United States v. Gementera
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
379 F.3d 596 (2004)
Shawn Gementera (defendant), 24 years old with a long criminal history, pleaded guilty to stealing mail from San Francisco mailboxes. The district court sentenced him to two months' incarceration and three years of supervised probation, later modifying the sentence after Gementera objected to an initial condition requiring him to wear a sandwich board reading "I stole mail. This is my punishment." outside a post office. The final conditions required him, after incarceration, to (1) observe customers at a post office's lost-mail window, (2) write apology letters to his victims, (3) give lectures at a local school, and (4) stand outside a postal facility for one eight-hour day wearing the sandwich board. Gementera appealed, arguing these "shaming" conditions violated the Sentencing Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d).
Whether conditions of supervised release that cause shame or embarrassment violate the Sentencing Reform Act when they are reasonably related to deterrence, protection of the public, and rehabilitation.