An Immodest Proposal
Guest blogger Dr. Abigail Bray wrote this several years ago. It's well worth republishing here.
I think it is agreed by all parties that whoever could find a fair, cheap and easy method of making poor girls useful members of the economy, would deserve so well of the public, as to have her statue erected as preserver of the nation. To this end, I propose a method inspired by Milton Friedman. Let us recognise that the influence of Friedman’s deregulation thesis on third way social engineering is so profound that we can now say that the Chicago School of economics is ...
10th Circuit Fires the Series-Qualifier Canon Across the Restitution Bow
Earlier this month, in an uninspired decision in United States v. Benoit, the Tenth Circuit held that "showing only that defendant participated in the audience of persons who viewed the images of the victim…may be sufficient to establish that defendant's actions were one cause of the generalized harm victims suffered due to the circulation of their images on the internet, but it is not sufficient to show that they were a proximate cause of any particular losses."
In other words, "generalized harm" = no foul and no restitution for victims of child pornography.
Acc...
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."
Ending the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in California
Today the National Center for Youth Law released a new report, Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California.
Report author Kate Walker, an Equal Justice Works Fellow and Attorney at the Center, commented that "Every day, the unthinkable happens: thousands of America's children are coerced into performing sex for hire. Exploitation can start as young as age ten. Some exploited children are brutally beaten and raped. Others are isolated, drugged, and starved until they become "willing" participants. Yet, ...
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.
Hildebran Elementary School Child Pornography Teacher Sex Abuse—Additional Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Filed
In an ever-widening child sex abuse case which started with an email to the Marsh Law Firm from a parent who was concerned about child pornography in her child's elementary school, an additional lawsuit claims the former principal was notified of the abuse years ago but took no action to protect students.
The family of another young child who attends Hildebran Elementary School in Burke County, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court sitting in Asheville, North Carolina.The lawsuit names as defendants Burke County Public Schools Board of Education, ...