The Ambulance chaser's new practice!

Several enterprising lawyers have come up with a new scheme to make money from the "victims" in child pornography cases. James R. Marsh calls his new practice of suing people convicted of possessing child pornography "a lawyer's dream".  These lawyers are demanding that everyone convicted of possessing even a single image of their client be responsible for the total damages, which runs as high as 3.4 million dollars in some cases. These questionable awards posing as "restitution" are spreading to all federal jurisdictions.  These civil lawyers are claiming that every time an image is viewed, the child is victimized anew.

Mr. Marsh has requested that the federal government notify him every time any of his clients' pictures turn up in a child pornography prosecution.  The Crime Victim's Rights Act of 2005 (Also known as the "Masha's Law" section of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act) has a built in notification system.  Mr. Marsh then intervenes in any federal prosecution and demands restitution.  He sometimes appears at sentencing and presents a victim impact statement.  He routinely has economists develop a tally of damages which includes counselling, diminished wages, potential mental health problems, and (of course) lawyers' fees.  Mr. Marsh argues that each defendant is jointly and severally liable for all damages.

Mr. Marsh has automated the process and e-mails his client's filings to the United States Attorneys in 350 cases.  He said, "I'm able to leverage the power of the Internet to get restitution for a victim of the Internet."  Mr. Marsh has in effect expanded his small New York Law firm by deputizing thousands of federal prosecutors.  He has received several "restitution" awards in excess of $100,000.

The reaction from the federal bench is mixed with some judges refusing to award restitution saying that the link between possession and the harm done is too tenuous to reach the level of "proximate harm" generally required under the law of restitution.

In addition to federal law, both Florida and Missouri are in the process of passing legislation that would entitle victims of child pornography to sue their offenders for $150,000 per image for possessing or distributing these images.