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PIERRE, S.D. Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a bipartisan group of 54
state and territorial Attorneys General calling upon congressional leaders to pass
legislation supporting victims of child pornography.
The bipartisan bill, the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance
Act of 2017, would make it easier for victims of child pornography to obtain
restitution. A similar bill passed the U.S. Senate in 2015 but failed to pass the House
of Representatives. The letter is directed to House and Judiciary Committee leaders.
“The crime of child pornography is alone tragic enough, but inhibiting these victims
from receiving full restitution is simply allowing them to be revictimized,” said Jackley.
“We need to continue to stand up and fight for victims’ rights and this Act allows us to
put victims first.”
A 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Paroline v. United States held that while
victims of child pornography are entitled to restitution, any individual defendant they
sue is only liable for the harm caused by that one individual’s possession of the
images.
The letter reads. “In order to receive restitution, a victim must pursue every case in
which a defendant was found to possess images of the victim. As the Supreme Court
recognized, digital images of each child victim are trafficked worldwide, and there may
be thousands of defendants found to possess each victim’s images. As a result, victims
are only able to receive a small amount of restitution from each defendant and must
pursue thousands of cases in order to receive full restitution. Preventing victims from
collecting full restitution protects defendants, who are shielded from having to pay
meaningful costs to those they have harmed.”
The Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act will improve the
law by:
• Clarifying congressional intent that victims be fully compensated for all the
harms resulting from every perpetrator who contributed to their trauma;
• Establishing a more meaningful definition of “full amount of a victim’s losses;”
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South Dakota Joins Challenge to the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act
PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today he has joined a 14
state coalition of Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief in the case of Colorado v.
Fuentes-Espinoza, with the United States Supreme Court. The brief argues the federal
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does not preclude states from enacting
legislation to prohibit human smuggling.
The brief argues that the states, as well as the federal government, have a compelling
interest in protecting immigrants, their families, and the community at large from the
exploitative and dangerous practices of human smugglers and the harms caused by
their large-scale criminal networks. Because the state statute does not involve direct
regulation of immigration or control of the national border, it does not violate the INA.
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South Dakota Joins Challenge to States’ Authority to Protect Life and Regulate
Dismemberment Abortions
PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today he has joined a 25
state coalition of Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief, in the case of Whole
Woman’s Health v. Becerra, Attorney General of Texas, with the United States Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief supports the States’ authority to regulate
dismemberment abortions for the purpose of protecting unborn life and human
dignity.
“The United States Supreme Court has recognized that States have an interest in
protecting and fostering respect for human life. Dismemberment abortions clearly fail
to protect or foster respect for human life,” said Jackley.
Dismemberment abortions kill fetuses by tearing them limb from limb while they are
still alive in the womb. In support of that State interest, the Courts have ruled that
States may prohibit specific abortion procedures so long as they do not unduly burden
the decision to obtain an abortion. The amicus brief argues the federal court failed to
give the States’ interest in respecting and fostering human life sufficient consideration
when it enjoined the enforcement of Texas’ dismemberment abortion ban that required
fetal demise before dismemberment.
Under South Dakota law, abortions are only lawful if performed under certain
conditions. Partial-birth abortions, which are described by SDCL 34-23A-32 as “any
abortion in which the person who performs the abortion causes a living human fetus
to be partially vaginally delivered before killing the infant and completing the delivery,”
are illegal unless necessary to save the life of the mother.
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