Although a Jefferson County judge’s directive to “get that GED” may have been merely a suggestion, the Court of Appeals decided on Thursday that completing her education may not be a condition of the defendant’s probation.

Erinlee Richelle Alley attempted to cash a check for “Housework/labor” in August 2017. The bank teller became suspicious of the writing and called the account holder, who confirmed the check was stolen.

Law enforcement charged Alley with identity theft and forgery. She gave conflicting stories. but generally denied the allegations. A jury convicted her and she received two years of probation.

Alley indicated she had completed a General Educational Development test, or GED, but that claim went unproven. At sentencing, Jefferson County District Court Judge Margie L. Enquist ended by telling Alley: “I would also get that GED.”

Colorado law does not explicitly allow judges to order adults to complete an educational program as part of probation, but they do have the discretion to make the defendant satisfy conditions related to their rehabilitation.

The three-member Court of Appeals panel believed Enquist’s comment to be more of a suggestion than an order. However, if the parties interpreted it as mandatory, the panel nullified the condition because the judge had not made a reasonable connection between a GED and Alley’s rehabilitation.

“[T]the ambiguity of the condition – ‘get GED’ – could cause Alley problems in the future,” wrote Judge Sueanna P. Johnson in the unpublished opinion. “Is this a condition of her probation that must be completed before probation can be terminated? Must she prove to the court she has received her GED at a later date?”

Judges in various jurisdictions order the pursuit of GEDs as part of probation generally in an attempt to further the defendants’ employability. In an Arizona Law Review article, Olympia C. Torres found that in Arizona, there are relatively few constraints on judges to issue the condition, whereas in Florida, there are circumstances under which a GED condition is invalid if it is not reasonably related to rehabilitation or if compliance is unlikely.

“In general, younger, probation-eligible people are the targeted candidates for the GED condition,” wrote Torres in a study of the Pima County Superior Court. “People with intellectual inabilities or mental-health issues are not automatically disqualified, but the GED-attainment condition depends on their specific diagnosis and how feasible it is for them to accomplish the requirements to attain a GED.”

Other than GEDs, special conditions of probation in Colorado could also include drug testing, community service or abiding by a curfew.