SCOTUS case could hike financial damages for child porn victims

But as victims’ advocates say, courts have had difficulty interpreting how that statute should be applied, and it was a question the U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday in connection with Amy’s case. At stake is the concept of “joint and several liability,” in which multiple participants in a crime – in Amy’s case, there are perhaps thousands – can be required to pay the entire amount of restitution to a victim, regardless of whether the offender played a large or small role.