A federal judge cannot delegate to probation officers a decision on whether a convict on supervised release should get drug treatment in an outpatient or inpatient program, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday.

Vacating a condition of release imposed by a lower court judge, the Second Circuit said, “The power to impose special conditions of supervised release, including participation in a substance abuse program, is vested exclusively in the district court.”

The appeal in United States v. Matta, 13-4078, was decided by Judges Jose Cabranes (See Profile) and Raymond Lohier (See Profile) and Southern District Judge Paul Engelmayer (See Profile), sitting by designation. Lohier wrote the court's opinion.