Should people who are convicted of downloading pornographic images of a child have to pay the victim? It is a new and controversial question. Some people feel the download is a victimless crime. But read on:
And The New York Times has a story about the issue on Wednesday
When Amy was a little girl, her uncle made her famous in the worst way: as a star in the netherworld of child pornography. Photographs and videos known as “the Misty series” depicting her abuse have circulated on the Internet for more than 10 years, and often turn up in the collections of those arrested for possession of illegal images.
Now, with the help of an inventive lawyer, the young woman known as Amy — her real name has been withheld in court to prevent harassment — is fighting back.
She is demanding that everyone convicted of possessing even a single Misty image pay her damages until her total claim of $3.4 million has been met.
Some experts argue that forcing payment from people who do not produce such images but only possess them goes too far.
In February, when the first judge arranged payment to Amy in a case in Connecticut, Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, called the decision “highly questionable” on his blog and said it “stretches personal accountability to the breaking point.”
Here’s the rest. Read on. Then tell me what you think.
Meanwhile, the Urban Institute released a report on Tuesday that examines the effects of immigration enforcement on children.
This is from the abstract:
This report examines the consequences of parental arrest, detention, and deportation on 190 children in 85 families in six locations, providing in-depth details on parent-child separations, economic hardships, and children’s well-being. The contentious immigration debates around the country mostly revolve around illegal immigration. Less visible have been the 5.5 million children with unauthorized parents, almost three-quarters of whom are U.S.-born citizens. Over several years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified enforcement activities through large-scale worksite arrests, home arrests, and arrests by local law enforcement. The report provides recommendations for stakeholders to mitigate the harmful effects of immigration enforcement on children.
Read more here.
I have a non-profit client that fights child pronography and child prostitution. I have to hand it to them for their good work and accomplishments. It’s such a horrible crime that I really don’t think that I could handle it emotionally on a daily basis.
I’ve seen firsthand the subsequent punishment of sexual predators within the penal system, how karmic justice was meted out to those sickos. Compassion and understanding has its limitations. There’s no rationale for child predation. I feel personally that a sign should be placed under every Neighborhood Watch sign in our country that states “We Support Jessica’s Law.
The hardest course I ever sat through, I can’t think of anything that’s even a close second including officer safety courses that show the actual murders of officers, was the Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The pictures and videos I saw, the case files I read and the recordings I heard were so gut wrenching I don’t know if I could have sat through it a second time. This was the initial course I took when assigned to investigate sex crimes of all types and will forever be with me.
In my opinion there is no “fix” for a true pedophile, none. If the victims of child pornography can be compensated that would be great and all involved in this sickest of crimes should pay up.