Limits on Procreation as a Condition of Probation

Can a judge limit a probationer’s right to have children? A North Carolina judge has broad discretion to shape the conditions of a defendant’s probation. Under G.S. 15A-1343(b1)(10), the judge can order the defendant to satisfy any condition deemed reasonably related to the defendant’s rehabilitation. Case law has added a requirement that any special conditions imposed must also bear a relationship to the defendant’s crime. State v. Cooper, 304 N.C. 180 (1981). But the nexus need not be all that close. In Cooper, for example, a condition prohibiting driving between midnight and 5:30 a.m. was deemed sufficiently closely related to the defendant’s crime of stealing credit cards. Notwithstanding the statute’s flexibility, of course any special conditions a judge imposes must not violate the constitution. And when it comes to questions of a defendant’s rights to procreate and keep a family together, the constitutional concerns are obvious. But not every limit on the rights of a person convicted of a crime violates the constitution. The leading case in that regard in North Carolina is State v. Strickland. 169 N.C. App. 193 (2005). In Strickland, the court of appeals upheld the statutory special condition of probation in G.S. 15A-1343(b2)(4), which prohibits certain sex offender probationers from residing in a household with any minor child. The defendant’s probation was revoked when he resided at his home with his wife and minor son. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the condition violated his constitutional right to parent and care for his minor child without [...]