High Court to Consider Restitution Deadline

(CN) – The Supreme Court agreed to consider whether a district court may enter a restitution order after the 90-day deadline set by the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.     The justices granted certiorari in the case of Brian Dolan v. United States.     Brian Russell Dolan, a member of the Mescalero Indian Tribe in southeastern New Mexico, pleaded guilty to attacking and injuring a fellow tribe member in September 2006.      The district court sentenced him to 21 months in prison and three years’ parole, but left blank the amount of restitution. That portion was filled in more than two months later, after the United States had submitted detailed information about the victim’s medical expenses.      Dolan argued that the Act requires the district court to order restitution within 90 days, and the judge failed to do so.     After losing his case in the 10th Circuit, he appealed to the Supreme Court.     The justices issued a one-page order agreeing to consider the case.