08-04-2025
US Supreme Court to hear KC case to determine legality of retroactive punishments
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The United States Supreme Court will use a case from Kansas City to decide the legality of some retroactive punishments.
The nation's highest court announced on Monday that it will hear the appeal of Holsey Ellingburg, Jr.
Ellingburg was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $7,500 restitution for his role in a December 1995 bank robbery in Georgia.
In April 1996, Congress passed the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (MVRA), which changed the statutory period of time for paying restitution ('restitution liability term').
After being released from prison in 2022, Ellingburg moved to the Kansas City, Missouri, area.
Authorities used the 1996 restitution law – passed after Ellingburg's sentencing – to try and force him to pay the remainder of his restitution.
Ellingburg argued that his restitution liability term under the Victim and Witness Protection Act (VWPA) had expired in 2016.
Ellingburg and his attorneys also argued that retroactively applying an expanded restitution liability term under the MVRA violated the U.S. Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause.
A federal appeals court ruled against Ellingburer in August 2024.
The court on Monday also agreed to hear a second, unrelated case – also dealing with ex post facto laws.
The Supreme Court has not yet announced a date for oral arguments in the cases.
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