Supreme Court Decision Syllabus (SCOTUS Podcast)

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 The Court unanimously held that restitution imposed under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act is a form of criminal punishment, meaning it cannot be applied to conduct that occurred before the statute was enacted without violating the Ex Post Facto Clause. Although Ellingburg’s offense predated the MVRA, he was sentenced under it and ordered to pay restitution. The Eighth Circuit had treated MVRA restitution as a civil, nonpunitive measure, but the Supreme Court rejected that view. Looking to the statute’s text, structure, and placement within the criminal code, the Court emphasized that restitution is imposed only on convicted defendants, at sentencing, alongside imprisonment and fines, and through procedures governing criminal penalties. Prior precedents likewise treated MVRA restitution as punitive. While restitution also serves compensatory aims, victims cannot control or negotiate it as they could in a civil action, underscoring its criminal nature. The Court therefore reversed and remanded.

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State Courts may not grant releif from FEDERAL causes of action by reference to state statute.

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1. The Court has jurisdiction because §2244(b)(3)(E) does not bar this Court’s review of a federal prisoner’s request to file a second or successive §2255 motion.  Pp. 5–19. (a) Section 2244(b)(3)(E) provides that the denial of authorization “to file a second or successive application” shall not be the subject of a certiorari petition.  That provision does not apply to federal prisoners. It is housed within §2244, which imposes several strict requirements that apply only to state prisoners.

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an appeal of a VOID judgement under federal rule 60 is still subject to the statutory text's "within a reasonable time" limit.

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Supreme Court refuses to assume that Congress intended to disregard Blockburger and allow someone to be convicted of two crimes in the same statute. Congress' clear intent here was to create two potential sentencing schemes, not allow someone to be convicted twice.