People v. Hackler

In People v. Hackler (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 1049, the probation "condition required the defendant, convicted of shoplifting beer from a supermarket, to wear an outer garment bearing a bold, printed statement of his status as a felony theft probationer" whenever he was away from home. (Ibid.) Thus, the condition impinged on the defendant's constitutional right to privacy. (Id. at p. 1058.) The Court of Appeal stated: "'Where a condition of probation requires a waiver of constitutional rights, the condition must be narrowly drawn. To the extent it is overbroad it is not reasonably related to a compelling state interest in reformation and rehabilitation and is an unconstitutional restriction on the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights.'" (Ibid.) The appellate court found the condition requiring the defendant to broadcast "his status as a convicted thief" (id. at p. 1059), even in venues where shoplifting was impossible, had merely an incidental relationship to "the crime for which he was convicted" (id. at pp. 1059-1060) and scant "bearing on his future criminality" (id. at p. 1060), and was therefore unreasonably overbroad (ibid.).