The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” — Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corp.
Given the pervasiveness of the Internet, it is curious to us that some courts have been all too willing to prohibit Internet use for defendants on probation or supervised release. Are such Internet bans narrowly tailored to affect “only such deprivations of liberty or property as are reasonably necessary,” a statutory factor in the conditions of release issued by a judge? Recent cases suggest the answer is no.
