44 Attorneys General Endorse the AVA

Today, forty four attorneys general endorsed the Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2014 and requested that Congress bring the bill to a vote.

Calling the United States Supreme Court decision in Paroline v. United States “counter to the legal opinions of the attorneys general of 35 states and territories, expressed in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to allow full restitution to victims of child pornography,” the attorneys general criticized the high court’s decision as forcing “victims to pursue a continuous stream of defendants, recovering very little in each case.”

The Paroline decision “disincentivizes victims from seeking the resources they need for therapy, medical care, lost wages and other needed services” while protecting “defendants from having to pay substantial costs to those they have harmed.”

The attorneys general concluded:

The Amy and Vicky Act provides victims with meaningful restitution from the multiple defendants who produce, distribute or possess images of child pornography, including those who have not been identified. The law also provides for joint and several liability so that multiple defendants may sue each other to spread out restitution costs for the same victim.…Providing timely and meaningful restitution will ensure that the growing number of victims can begin to rebuild their lives by fully recovering the financial losses caused by child pornography.


The Attorneys General Supporting the AVA
 

Greg Zoeller
Indiana Attorney General
Robert W. Ferguson
Washington Attorney General
Luther Strange
Alabama Attorney General
Michael Geraghty
Alaska Attorney General
Tom Horne
Arizona Attorney General
Dustin McDaniel
Arkansas Attorney General
Kamala Harris
California Attorney General
John W. Suthers
Colorado Attorney General
Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III
Delaware Attorney General
Pamela Jo Bondi
Florida Attorney General
Samuel S. Olens
Georgia Attorney General
Lenny Rapadas
Guam Attorney General
David Louie
Hawaii Attorney General
Lawrence Wasden
Idaho Attorney General
Lisa Madigan
Illinois Attorney General
Tom Miller
Iowa Attorney General
Derek Schmidt
Kansas Attorney General
Jack Conway
Kentucky Attorney General
James “Buddy” Caldwell
Louisiana Attorney General
Janet Mills
Maine Attorney General
Douglas F. Gansler
Maryland Attorney General
Martha Coakley
Massachusetts Attorney General
Bill Schuette
Michigan Attorney General
Lori Swanson
Minnesota Attorney General
Jim Hood
Mississippi Attorney General
Chris Koster
Missouri Attorney General
Tim Fox
Montana Attorney General
Jon Bruning
Nebraska Attorney General
Joseph Foster
New Hampshire Attorney General
John Hoffman
New Jersey Attorney General
Gary King
New Mexico Attorney General
Roy Cooper
North Carolina Attorney General
Wayne Stenehjem
North Dakota Attorney General
Scott Pruitt
Oklahoma Attorney General
Ellen F. Rosenblum
Oregon Attorney General
Peter Kilmartin
Rhode Island Attorney General
Alan Wilson
South Carolina Attorney General
Marty Jackley
South Dakota Attorney General
Greg Abbott
Texas Attorney General
Sean Reyes
Utah Attorney General
William H. Sorrell
Vermont Attorney General
Mark Herring
Virginia Attorney General
Patrick Morrisey
West Virginia Attorney General
J.B. Van Hollen
Wisconsin Attorney General

 

Letter of Support from the National Association of Attorneys General