Alaska Appeals Court: Reconsider Sex Offender's Bar On Taking His Children To Church

In Binder v. State of Alaska, (AK, March 30, 2016), an Alaska appeals court remanded a case to the trial court to reconsider defendant's request that his conditions of probation be modified to allow him to visit and attend church with his children. The court said that it was not enough to leave this issue to the discretion of defendant's probation officer. Instead the court should decide whether, for example, defendant could attend church with his children supervised by a person approved by the court or his probation officer. The appeals court explained:

When probation conditions potentially infringe fundamental constitutional rights, a sentencing judge must scrutinize the conditions and consider whether less restrictive alternatives might suffice.