Post Paroline, Congress to Revamp Child Porn Restitution Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.—It been a bit more than two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case of child porn possessor Doyle Paroline to the district court in Texas where he was sued by "Amy Unknown," whose 12-year-old image appears in two of the 300 child porn photos Paroline had on his computer. The judge in that lawsuit awarded Amy the entire $3.4 million restitution she sued for—she'd already collected about $1.8 million from other perps—but the Supreme Court seemed to feel that that was too much to expect any one person to pay, even though the district court had said that Paroline was free to dun fellow kid porn aficionados for whatever part of the $3.4 million he himself couldn't cover. AVN wrote about the Supreme Court's decision here. But the controversy caught the attention of the U.S. Senate's biggest anti-porn crusader, Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and yesterday, Hatch introduced the "Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2014," named for the two most famous child porn victims. While the text of the bill is not yet available, according to a written statement released by Hatch, "Victims of child pornography suffer a unique kind of harm and deserve a unique restitution process, and the Amy and Vicky Act is that solution. I'm proud to have the support of Amy, Vicky, and so many individuals and organizations who seek to work with Sen. Schumer and me and other supporters of this bill to strengthen the voice of child pornography victims." "The tragic effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in Paroline was this: The more widely viewed the pornographic image of a victim, and the more offenders there are, the more difficult it is for the victim to recover for her anguish and her damages," Schumer told the Washington Times, adding that there "should not be safety in numbers." Indeed; the bill is cosponsored by an array of legislators, though the only other Democrat is Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, plus Republican Sens. John Cornyn (TX), Lindsey Graham (SC), John McCain (AZ), Charles E. Grassley (IA) and Rob Portman (OH). "It is the intent of Congress that victims of child pornography be fully compensated for all the harms resulting from each and every perpetrator who contributes to their anguish," one portion of the bill reads, later listing the losses attributable to the victimization as health care, therapy, physical and occupational rehabilitation, housing and child care expenses, lifetime lost income and attorneys’ fees. The legislation is expected to pass both Houses quickly.