For the better part of four years, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has been dealing with In Re Amy Unknown, an appeal involving a child pornography victim who sought restitution from two criminal defendants convicted of possessing illegal images of her.
A key issue with which the appellate court struggled was whether 18 U.S.C. §2259 requires a U.S. district court to find that a defendant’s criminal acts proximately caused a crime victim’s losses before the district court may order restitution. The 5th Circuit previously issued conflicting decisions on that issue on mandamus and on direct appeal in In Re Amy. By 2010, In Re Amy was the most thoroughly litigated case in the country on the proximate cause issue. [See "Case Highlights Problems for Child-Porn Victims Seeking Restitution," Texas Lawyer, Feb. 15, 2010, page 1.]
