Behind the Cover Story: Emily Bazelon on Pornography and Punishment
Emily Bazelon discusses her New York Times Magazine cover story, The Price of a Stolen Childhood, about the Marsh Law Firm's groundbreaking work representing victims of child pornography.
Behind the Cover Story: Emily Bazelon on Pornography and Punishment
"It's a common refrain in child pornography cases to say that it is a victimless crime. The person who downloaded the image was quote unquote just looking. Restitution helps force them to see that they are part of a market that depends on hurting real children."
Opprescedent Decisions Continue for Victims of Child Pornography
Last month, in United States v. Robert M. Fast, the Eighth Circuit, in a 2-1 split decision, rejected full restitution for child pornography victims, holding that:
Congress determined that these [child pornography] restitution offenses typically proximately cause the losses enumerated in subsections 2259(b)(3)(A) through (E). Congress did not mean that a specific defendant automatically proximately causes those losses in every case. The government still has to prove that the defendant proximately caused those losses.
[I]njury to the child depicted in the child pornograp...
Sixth Circuit Rejects Commonsense Approach to Child Pornography Restitution
Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued this confusing decision on child pornography restitution in the combined cases of United States v. James D. Gamble and Shawn Crawford.
The Court held that the child pornography restitution statute contains both a cause-in-fact requirement—i.e., a showing that the defendant's conduct actually caused the victim's losses—and and a requirement that the cause be proximate.
The Court found that "the statute still allows victims to collect more restitution than under earlier and concurrent restitution statutes. The statute expands ...
The Price of a Stolen Childhood
The New York Times Magazine has a feature article about the Marsh Law Firm's groundbreaking work over the past eight years to obtain restitution for child pornography victims. The story was over a year in the making. It’s a remarkable piece written by noted journalist Emily Bazelon and tells the tragic yet hopeful tale of two victims of child pornography and their quest to rebuild their lives.
The article appears here and will be included in this Sunday's New York Times.
Amicus Support Victim Restitution – Brief Filed in Supreme Court
Today, the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) moved for leave to file, as amicus curiae, this brief in support of the Marsh Law Firm's recent Petition for a Writ of Certiorari concerning whether the Mandatory Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of Children Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2259, excuses a defendant from paying restitution for the itemized loss categories unless there is proof that the victim’s losses were the proximate result of an individual defendant’s child pornography crime.
NCVLI is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization located ...
Restitution for Child Victims Returns to the Supreme Court
Last week, the Marsh Law Firm, along with co-counsel Paul G. Cassell and Carol L. Hepburn, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
Almost 20 years ago, Congress enacted the Mandatory Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of Children Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2259, to benefit victims of federal child pornography
crimes, including petitioners like Amy and Vicky, whose child sex abuse images are traded and collected over the internet by countless individuals worldwide.
The statute provides in part that a court “shall order restitution...
Fifth Circuit Endorses Full Restitution for Child Pornography Victims
Today, in a rare en banc decision, the Fifth Circuit endorsed the Marsh Law Firm's argument that victims of child pornography are entitled to restitution for the full amount of their losses.
In a case which has been winding its way through the courts since 2009, ten of fifteen judges agreed that the Mandatory
Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of Children Act of 1994 "imposes no generalized proximate cause requirement before a child pornography victim may recover restitution from a defendant possessing images of her abuse."
The Court further declared that the child ...