Bowe v. United States · ¶132

There is an obvious reason Mr. Bowe did not press that eccentric theory before us: It cannot be squared with the statutory text. Section 2255 instructs that a federal prisoner's second or successive attack “must be certified as provided in section 2244.” And what subparagraph (E) “provide[s]” is a package deal. The statute bars rehearing petitions and certiorari petitions in a single breath: It provides that a panel's certification decision “shall not be the subject of a petition for rehearing or for a writ of certiorari.” § 2244(b)(3)(E). The notion that all of subparagraph (E) might apply to federal prisoners minus the six words “or for a writ of certiorari” is utterly implausible as a textual matter.

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