United States v. Harris

920 F. Supp. 132, 1996 WL 131907
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedFebruary 16, 1996
DocketCR-S-95-312-LDG-(LRL)
StatusPublished

This text of 920 F. Supp. 132 (United States v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Harris, 920 F. Supp. 132, 1996 WL 131907 (D. Nev. 1996).

Opinion

ORDER

JOHNSTON, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter came before the Court for a hearing on Defendant Harris’ Motion to Modify Terms of Pretrial Release (#75). Arguments by both parties were presented during a hearing held January 24,1996. The Court has considered the Motion, the Government’s Opposition to the Motion (#92), the Defendant’s Reply to the Government’s Opposition (#97), and the oral arguments. Additionally, pursuant to this Court’s Order (# 96), the Government filed as a supplemental submission (# 98) copies of telemarketing complaints and interviews implicating Stanley Harris in alleged illegal telemarketing activity.

BACKGROUND

Stanley Churchill Harris, was indicted on November 29,1995, on one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and thirty- *133 three (33) counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2, and telemarketing fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2326(1) and (2). The indictment alleges that Harris and others engaged in illegal telemarketing practices when he solicited citizens throughout the United States by telephone to purchase merchandise by inducing them with false promises of prizes and cash awards.

On December 7,1995, Harris was arrested for these charges and released later that day on his his personal recognizance subject to several conditions imposed pursuant to the Bail Reform Act, including that he not be employed in the telemarketing industry. Harris seeks a modification of that employment restriction. Specifically, Harris maintains that he should be permitted to work for another telemarketing company since his solicitation activity there would be monitored and remain well within the limits of the law. Harris asserts that the paucity of evidence against him and his personal financial obligations present circumstances which justify his engaging in further telemarketing ventures.

DISCUSSION

A. Intent of Pretrial Release Conditions

Title 18, United States Code, Section 3142 of the Bail Reform Act guides courts in fashioning acceptable conditions of pretrial release. One purpose of the 1984 law is to address “the alarming problem of crimes committed by persons on release,” by insuring that courts are given “adequate authority to make release decisions that give appropriate recognition to the danger a person may pose to others if released.” S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess., at 3 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3182, 3185. Consequently, the statute requires judicial officers to impose the least restrictive release conditions that will “reasonably assure ... the safety of any other person and the community.” 18 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(1)(B) (emphasis added); see also, United States v. Gebro, 948 F.2d 1118, 1121 (9th Cir.1991).

The statute does not define the harm a court is to obviate when assuring the “safety of any other person and the community.” It is evident that every person charged with an offense poses some risk of harm to another person or the community. The degree of that harm will vary with each case. Accordingly, the danger against which a court must safeguard encompasses much more than the risk of physical violence. United States v. Tortora, 922 F.2d 880, 884 (1st Cir.1990); see also, United States v. King, 849 F.2d 485, 487 n. 2 (11th Cir.1988). The Senate Report explains:

[T]he language referring to the safety of the community refers to the danger that the defendant might engage in criminal activity to the detriment of the community. The Committee intends that the concern about safety be given a broader construction than merely danger of harm involving physical violence.

S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong.2d Sess. at 12 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3182, 3195.

The Committee emphasized, for example, that when a person is arrested for engaging in drug trafficking, the risk that the defendant will continue to engage in such conduct constitutes a danger to the “safety of any other person or the community.” See S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong.2d Sess. at 13 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3196; see also, e.g., United States v. Knight, 636 F.Supp. 1462 (S.D.Fla.1986); United States v. Hawkins, 617 F.2d 59 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 952, 101 S.Ct. 355, 66 L.Ed.2d 215 (1980). Hence, reasonable release conditions may be imposed to prevent the reoccurrence of criminal conduct for which the accused has been charged. Often it is economic or pecuniary interests of a community rather than physical ones which are most susceptible to repeated danger by a released defendant.

B. Reasonableness of Pretrial Release Conditions

Section 3142(c)(1)(B) identifies thirteen (13) permissible conditions which a Court may place on an arrested person during pre *134 trial release. 1 Most of these conditions expressly limit individual rights otherwise guaranteed and protected by the Constitution. Additionally, subsection (c)(l)(B)(xiv) allows the court to tailor and impose “any other condition that is reasonably necessary ... to assure the safety of any other person and the community.”

These conditions are reasonable regulatory limitations on individual liberty interests of charged persons released from custody pending trial. They were established by Congress in response to a compelling government interest in crime prevention and community safety. United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 749, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 2102-03, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987). Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that “the government’s regulatory interest in community safety can, in appropriate circumstances, outweigh an individual’s liberty interest.” Salerno, 481 U.S. at 748, 107 S.Ct. at 2102. Hence in appropriate circumstances, the Bail Reform Act subordinates individual constitutional rights to the greater societal interest in community safety.

C. Harris’ Motion to Modify Terms of Pretrial Release

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Related

United States v. Salerno
481 U.S. 739 (Supreme Court, 1987)
United States v. Frances King
849 F.2d 485 (Eleventh Circuit, 1988)
United States v. Carmen A. Tortora
922 F.2d 880 (First Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Wayne Patrick Gebro
948 F.2d 1118 (Ninth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Knight
636 F. Supp. 1462 (S.D. Florida, 1986)
United States v. Hawkins
617 F.2d 59 (Fifth Circuit, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
920 F. Supp. 132, 1996 WL 131907, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-harris-nvd-1996.