Opinion ID: 149023
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Probation Statute Grants Federal Courts the Authority to Order Restitution as a Condition of Probation for Any Criminal Offense

Text: The starting point for our discussion is, as always, the plain language of the statute. See Brock-Davis, 504 F.3d at 996. Regarding restitution, the Probation Statute authorizes courts to provide, as [a] further condition[ ] of a sentence of probation . . . that the defendant.. . make restitution to a victim of the offense under section 3556 (but not subject to the limitation of section 3663(a) or 3663A(c)(1)(A)). 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(2). The quoted language and cited statutory sections make it perfectly clear that restitution imposed as a condition of probation is not subject to the limitations of the VWPA and MVRA. The quoted passage requires a court ordering restitution as a condition of probation to adhere to section 3556, which in turn requires adherence to the provisions of the VWPA and MVRA, but without the limitation[s] of section 3663(a) or 3663A(c)(1)(A). Id. § 3563(b)(2). Those limitations confine restitution under the VWPA and the MVRA to particular offenses. [4] The express exemption from these limitations forecloses Batson's contention that the district court's restitution authority is confined to the offenses covered by the VWPA and the MVRA. The district court is therefore authorized by § 3563(b)(2) to order restitution as a condition of probation to the victim of any criminal offense, including those in Title 26, for which probation is properly imposed. A consistent line of decisions supports this interpretation of § 3563. In United States v. Nachtigal, 507 U.S. 1, 113 S.Ct. 1072, 122 L.Ed.2d 374 (1993) (per curiam), the Supreme Court recognized the authority of federal courts to attach a host of discretionary conditions to [a] probationary term pursuant to § 3563(b), id. at 2, 113 S.Ct. 1072, and, more specifically, to order restitution as a condition of probation for offenses set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations, id. at 5 n. , 113 S.Ct. 1072 (Under 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b), a court may require, among other things, that the defendant . . . pay restitution [as a condition of probation]). In addition, several of our sister circuits have recognized, directly or tangentially, the authority of courts to order restitution as a condition of probation for offenses under Title 26. See, e.g., United States v. May, 568 F.3d 597, 607 n. 6 (6th Cir.2009); United States v. Nolen, 523 F.3d 331, 332 (5th Cir.2008); United States v. Lewis, 235 F.3d 215, 219 (4th Cir.2000); United States v. Bok, 156 F.3d 157, 166-67 (2d Cir.1998). Although we have not directly held the same until today, we have recognized the authority of courts to order restitution as a condition of probation for offenses under Title 41 and, in the same opinion, affirmed an order imposing restitution as a condition of probation for an offense under Title 26. United States v. Gamma Tech Indus., Inc., 265 F.3d 917, 923, 924 n. 7, 931 (9th Cir.2001). We have no doubt, therefore, of the authority of federal courts to order restitution as a condition of probation for offenses not set forth in the VWPA or the MVRA.