Paroline v. United States

Paroline v. United States, 572 U.S. 434 (2014), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that to recover restitution under 18 U.S.C. § 2259, the government or the victim must establish a causal relationship between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm or damages. The decision vacated the appellate court decision,[1] and remanded it.[2] A legislative fix was subsequently proposed by Marci Hamilton.[3] Ultimately, the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 was introduced in response.

Paroline v. U.S.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 22, 2014 Decided April 23, 2014
Full case name	Doyle Randall Paroline, Petitioner v. United States, et al.
Docket no.	12-8561
Citations	572 U.S. 434 (more) 134 S. Ct. 1710; 188 L. Ed. 2d 714
Case history
Prior	701 F.3d 749 (5th Cir. 2012); cert. granted, 570 U.S. 931 (2013).
Holding
To recover restitution, the government or the victim must establish a causal relationship between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm or damages.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Case opinions
Majority	Kennedy, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Kagan
Dissent	Roberts, joined by Scalia, Thomas
Dissent	Sotomayor
Laws applied
18 U.S.C. § 2259