Delegational Delusions: Why Judges Should Be Able To Delegate Reasonable Authority Over Stated Supervised Release Conditions

This Note examines the constitutionality of allowing a probation officer the discretion to either impose or forego particular conditions of a supervised release, depending on the officer\u27s assessment of the defendant\u27s needs. Two federal Circuits allow probation officers to have such discretion; the majority have held that such arrangements violate Article III of the Constitution, which makes imposing a sentence an exclusively judicial task. In this Note, the author investigates the history of delegation of judicial function to non Article-III officers and examines the split in federal courts over this particular issue, ultimately advocating for the adoption of the so-called pragmatic approach used by the minority circuits allowing such arrangements