Implementing the Child Pornography Victims Reserve, 92794-92804 [2024-26679]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 227 / Monday, November 25, 2024 / Rules and Regulations
of paragraph (c)(1), insert the word
‘‘the’’ between ‘‘on’’ and ‘‘nature’’.
Aron L. Cosby,
Federal Register Liaison, Publications and
Regulations Branch, Legal Processing
Division, Associate Chief Counsel, (Procedure
and Administration).
[FR Doc. 2024–27427 Filed 11–22–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
28 CFR Part 81
[Docket No. CRM 120; AG Order No. 6090–
2024]
RIN 1105–AB57
Implementing the Child Pornography
Victims Reserve
Department of Justice.
Final rule.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
This final rule finalizes with
changes the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (‘‘NPRM’’) published by
Department of Justice (‘‘Department’’ or
‘‘DOJ’’) to implement the Amy, Vicky,
and Andy Child Pornography Victim
Assistance Act of 2018, which
established the Child Pornography
Victims Reserve to provide defined
monetary assistance to eligible
individuals who are depicted in child
pornography that is the basis for certain
convictions.
DATES: This final rule is effective
November 25, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Catherine Pierce, Senior Advisor, Office
for Victims of Crime, 810 7th Street NW,
Rm. 2246, Washington, DC 20531,
telephone (202) 307–6785 (not a toll-free
number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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I. Executive Summary
Congress established the Child
Pornography Victims Reserve
(‘‘Reserve’’) to provide defined
monetary assistance to eligible
individuals who are depicted in child
pornography that is the basis for certain
convictions under chapter 110 of title
18. The Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child
Pornography Victim Assistance Act of
2018 (‘‘the AVAA’’ or ‘‘the Act’’), Public
Law 115–299, secs. 4–5, 132 Stat 4383,
4385–88, codified at 18 U.S.C. 2259,
2259A, and 2259B, and 34 U.S.C.
20101(d). Under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d), a
United States district court may order
payment from the Reserve to a victim of
a defendant convicted in Federal court
of trafficking in child pornography
depicting that victim. The Department,
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pursuant to this final rule, will make a
payment from the Reserve to such child
pornography victims based on orders
obtained in United States district
courts.1
The Department published an NPRM
on June 5, 2023, Implementing the Child
Pornography Victims Reserve, 88 FR
36516, proposing to implement the
AVAA, and received public comments.
The Department is now issuing this
final rule pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
2259B(c), which provides that the
Attorney General shall issue regulations
to implement the payment of defined
monetary assistance out of the Reserve.
This final rule outlines procedures for
persons to request to apply through the
Department for a court order
determining eligibility and directing
payment of defined monetary
assistance. It is not intended to limit
how a claimant might seek an order for
defined monetary assistance directly
from a court.
As set forth in more detail below, if
a claimant chooses to proceed through
the Department, the Department may
present the claimant’s application for a
court order. (‘‘Claimant’’ means the
person who claims to be a victim of
trafficking in child pornography and to
be eligible for the defined monetary
assistance under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d), and
‘‘victim’’ or ‘‘victim of trafficking in
child pornography’’ means a person
whom a Federal court has determined,
under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B), to be a
victim of trafficking in child
pornography.) The Department will
provide payment from the Reserve to
the victim (or an authorized
representative, if applicable) pursuant to
a court order issued under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(C), upon receipt of the order
and the requisite information from the
claimant following instructions on the
Department’s website for this program:
https://www.justice.gov/DMAVR.
The final rule also sets forth
procedures by which persons may
submit requests to the Department,
including through their attorney, a legal
guardian (in the case of claimants under
the age of 18 or who are incompetent,
incapacitated, or deceased), or a
representative authorized by the
claimant, which includes a personal
representative of an estate (for deceased
claimants) (collectively, ‘‘authorized
1 This rule uses the term ‘‘child pornography,’’
instead of the currently preferred term ‘‘child
sexual abuse material,’’ to match the language used
in the Act. To avoid using the term ‘‘child
pornography’’ in resource and application materials
directed to potential claimants, however, the
Department will describe the Child Pornography
Victims Reserve established by the Act as the
‘‘Defined Monetary Assistance Victims Reserve’’ in
such resource and application materials.
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representative’’). The final rule is
procedural in nature, implementing a
process by which a claimant may
request that the Department facilitate
the claimant’s request that a court make
a determination of eligibility pursuant
to the eligibility requirements of the
Act. It does not create new rights or
impose obligations independent of the
statute, and it does not create an
attorney-client relationship between the
claimant and any Department attorney.
II. Background
Under Federal law, victims of child
pornography offenses are entitled to full
and timely restitution from defendants
charged and convicted in Federal court,
including restitution for losses caused
by conduct such as the possession,
receipt, viewing, transportation, and
distribution of child pornography. See
18 U.S.C. 2259. Restitution is imposed
upon an individual criminal defendant
by a Federal court in connection with
sentencing, and the obligation to pay
restitution is part of the defendant’s
criminal sentence. See id.; see also 18
U.S.C. 3663A. The Federal Government
bears the burden of proving that the
defendant owes restitution to a victim,
although a defendant can agree to pay
restitution as part of a plea agreement.
In order for a court to impose a
restitution obligation on a child
pornography trafficking defendant, the
Federal Government, represented by the
prosecutor, must prove the following:
• Victim status: This element means
that the person seeking restitution is a
victim, i.e., that the person has been
harmed as a result of the commission of
a Federal child pornography trafficking
crime.
• Losses: This element refers to the
amount of losses incurred by the victim,
both since the offense took place and
that are reasonably projected to be
incurred in the future. There is no
statutory limit on how much restitution
may be ordered to be paid to a victim,
but there must be a sufficient
evidentiary basis to prove that all of the
losses have been or are reasonably
projected to be incurred. The statute
permits recovery for the following types
of losses: medical services relating to
physical, psychiatric, or psychological
care; physical and occupational therapy
or rehabilitation; necessary
transportation, temporary housing, and
child care expenses; lost income;
reasonable attorneys’ fees, as well as
other costs incurred; and any other
relevant losses incurred by the victim.
18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(2). Restitution losses
are limited to actual monetary losses
and should not be confused with
amounts of money a victim might be
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awarded for pain and suffering or
punitive damages in a civil tort lawsuit.
• Causation: As discussed in more
detail below, this element requires proof
that the losses were caused in the
aggregate by the trade in child
pornography depicting the victim.
• Amount: In cases where multiple
defendants contributed to the victim’s
losses, the court must determine how
much each individual defendant should
pay to the victim.
In all Federal cases, restitution is
obtained on a case-by-case basis.
Because child pornography can be
possessed and shared by many different
unrelated criminal defendants and
distributed repeatedly, a single child
pornography trafficking victim may
receive restitution orders in hundreds of
individual criminal cases being brought
in different Federal courts all over the
country. Under current law, each of
these defendants is ordered to pay some
portion of the victim’s overall losses.
Once the victim has collected payment
for the full amount of the victim’s losses
from one or more defendants, no further
restitution orders can be imposed on
additional defendants on the victim’s
behalf unless new losses are incurred.
See 18 U.S.C. 2259(b)(2)(C).
In 2009, a victim sought restitution for
the first time, not from the individual
who sexually abused her and produced
and shared the images, but from
individuals who subsequently traded
and collected those images. A small
number of other child pornography
victims subsequently sought similar
restitution. Federal prosecutors across
the country were soon seeking
restitution for victims in Federal courts
in child pornography possession,
receipt, and distribution cases.
Despite the Department’s overall
success in obtaining orders of restitution
for these victims, courts were
inconsistent in their approach to
restitution claims. Some courts
struggled to determine whether an
individual defendant convicted of
possession, receipt, or distribution
proximately caused a victim’s losses. If
a defendant was only one of thousands
who harmed the victim, then some
courts indicated that the defendant
could not be said to have caused the
victim’s losses because those losses
would be essentially the same if that
particular defendant had never
committed the crime. On that logic,
some courts simply denied the
restitution requests. Others demanded a
showing as to how much an individual
defendant’s crime incrementally
increased the victim’s losses, imposing
a generally insurmountable evidentiary
burden. Among courts that awarded
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restitution, many grappled with how to
determine the amount that the
defendant should pay to the victim.
These issues were brought to the
Supreme Court in Paroline v. United
States, 572 U.S. 434 (2014). After
finding that section 2259 required proof
of proximate causation for all the
categories of losses referenced in the
statute, the Court summed up the
problem this way:
In this case . . . , a showing of but-for
causation cannot be made. . . . From the
victim’s perspective, Paroline was just one of
thousands of anonymous possessors. . . . [I]t
is not possible to prove that her losses would
be less (and by how much) but for one
possessor’s individual role in the large,
loosely connected network through which
her images circulate. Even without Paroline’s
offense, thousands would have viewed and
would in the future view the victim’s images,
so it cannot be shown that her trauma and
attendant losses would have been any
different but for Paroline’s offense.
Id. at 450 (internal citations omitted).
To resolve this dilemma, the Court
adopted the less demanding aggregate
causation standard:
[A]lternative and less demanding causal
standards are necessary in certain
circumstances to vindicate the law’s
purposes. It would be anomalous to turn
away a person harmed by the combined acts
of many wrongdoers simply because none of
those wrongdoers alone caused the harm.
And it would be nonsensical to adopt a rule
whereby individuals hurt by the combined
wrongful acts of many (and thus in many
instances hurt more badly than otherwise)
would have no redress, whereas individuals
hurt by the acts of one person alone would
have a remedy.
Id. at 452. Therefore, the Court
concluded:
In this special context, where it can be
shown both that a defendant possessed a
victim’s images and that a victim has
outstanding losses caused by the continuing
traffic in those images but where it is
impossible to trace a particular amount of
those losses to the individual defendant by
recourse to a more traditional causal inquiry,
a court applying § 2259 should order
restitution in an amount that comports with
the defendant’s relative role in the causal
process that underlies the victim’s general
losses.
Id. at 458. The Court then considered
how district courts might determine the
amount a given defendant should pay a
victim in restitution. To provide
guidance, the Court cited a number of
factors courts might consider, including
‘‘the number of past criminal defendants
found to have contributed to the
victim’s general losses; . . . whether the
defendant reproduced or distributed
images of the victim; whether the
defendant had any connection to the
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initial production of the images; how
many images of the victim the
defendant possessed; and other facts
relevant to the defendant’s relative
causal role.’’ Id. at 460.
The aggregate causation standard is
easily understood and applied. To the
extent that restitution is contested, the
dispute is often solely over how much
a defendant should be ordered to pay a
given victim.
Nonetheless, even after Paroline, few
victims exercised their right to
restitution. It appeared that the process
of tracking hundreds of cases around the
country over the course of years was too
burdensome. Almost all victims seeking
restitution in child pornography
trafficking cases hire an attorney to help
coordinate the logistics. In addition,
although the Government bears the
burden of proving restitution, in order
to submit estimates of future losses,
many victims hire psychological experts
and economic analysts to help prepare
their claims. The necessity of engaging
multiple experts has served as a barrier
that prevents victims from seeking
restitution at all.
Congress therefore enacted the AVAA
to create an alternative system to allow
victims of trafficking in child
pornography to obtain some measure of
compensation (called ‘‘defined
monetary assistance’’) without having to
prove their losses. The process of
obtaining defined monetary assistance is
an alternative to the traditional means of
seeking restitution as part of a Federal
prosecution. Providing the defined
monetary assistance alternative is meant
to ameliorate the structural
impediments that prevent victims from
claiming restitution while preserving
the option of obtaining full restitution
for those who wish to do so. Under the
terms of the statute, victims of these
types of child pornography offenses can
choose whether to present their full
restitution claims in court through
prosecutors, as is currently done, obtain
a one-time payment of defined monetary
assistance, or both, depending on the
circumstances. The amount of defined
monetary assistance in 2019 was
$35,000, but the amount is adjusted for
inflation over time. 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(D).
The Act provides that the ‘‘Attorney
General shall administer’’ the Reserve.
See 18 U.S.C. 2259B(c). The
determination regarding victim
eligibility for the payment is made by
the court. The procedural details of the
Department’s administration of the
Reserve and the substantive law
applicable to the court’s determination
are discussed in Part IV of this
preamble.
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III. Discussion of Comments Received
on the NPRM
Notice of the proposed rule was
published in the Federal Register on
June 5, 2023. Before the comment
period closed on August 4, 2023,
comments were received from 11
commenters.2 These comments were
largely supportive of the rule and
focused primarily on seeking additional
information about how the Department
plans to implement the rule. The
Department has made a few
amendments to the rule in response to
some of the comments. The Department
also amended § 81.55(c) to clarify that
claimants should not submit videos, in
addition to not submitting images, of
child pornography as supporting
information because transmitting videos
of child pornography could also
potentially violate Federal law. A
discussion of comments received, and
the Department’s responses, follows.
A. Comment From the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts
(‘‘AO’’)
1. The AO stated that the proposed
rule does ‘‘not provide specifics as to
the information the Department will
require victims to provide as part of
th[e] application process’’ and does ‘‘not
address how the applications will be
presented to the courts for a
determination of eligibility.’’ Another
commenter similarly stated that the rule
should provide that the Department’s
website contain certain specified
information and be accessible for at
least 30 days before ‘‘program
commencement.’’
Response. The proposed rule stated
that the Department, through its
website, will set out the specific
information that a claimant will be
required to submit. The Department
declines to amend the rule to require
that the website be accessible for 30
days before requests for applications to
a court can be submitted, given
uncertainty about the time it will take
to build the new website and portal;
requiring a fixed amount of time before
submission of requests would delay the
ability of eligible victims to submit their
requests through the Department if they
choose to do so. The Department will
address how applications will be
presented to the courts through internal
guidance. The Department anticipates
that it and the AO will continue to
2 The Department also received one web
submission from a person who indicated that the
person’s comment was included as an attachment.
No attachment was included, however, and the
Department did not receive any response from the
submitter after inquiring about the apparently
missing attachment.
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collaborate on the implementation of
the Reserve.
B. Comments From the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children
(‘‘NCMEC’’)
1. NCMEC stated that the proposed
rule is ‘‘largely silent . . . regarding the
timing and details of the process for
when DOJ will present a victim’s claim
for payment to a federal court’’ and that,
absent more specific deadlines or
assurances of promptness, the
Department’s process may be delayed,
which would in turn impede victims
from obtaining payment. Two
commenters stated that the proposed
rule should contain specific time
limitations by which the Department
will act in connection with a claimant’s
request for payment from the Reserve.
Response. The statute does not
provide any deadline or limitations
period for submitting a claim for
defined monetary assistance to a court.
The Department likewise declines to
impose a deadline or limitations period
on itself because it lacks sufficient
information at this time to do so. It does
not know, for example, the number of
individuals who will request that the
Department apply for an order of
defined monetary assistance, the
number of claims that will be pending
in court at any given moment, or the
extent to which the Department will
need to adopt additional internal
measures to ensure that only those
individuals determined by a court to be
eligible for payment under the statute
receive such payment. The Department
does, however, commit itself to taking
reasonable measures to ensure prompt
payment to eligible individuals.
Moreover, and in any event, the
procedures set forth in this rule do not
limit a claimant’s ability to request an
order for defined monetary assistance
directly from a court.
2. NCMEC stated that the proposed
rule does ‘‘not provide any details or
even basic descriptions of what actual
information a survivor will be required
to submit to DOJ to support a claim.’’
Relatedly, NCMEC stated that the
proposed rule should make clear that
although a victim can fairly be required
to provide some information in support
of a claim for payment from the Reserve,
‘‘the research and effort needed to draft
a suitable federal court submission in
this situation remains DOJ’s
responsibility.’’
Response. A court will ultimately
determine what information is
necessary to support a claim for defined
monetary assistance, and this rule does
not limit a claimant’s ability to request
an order for defined monetary assistance
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directly from a court. If a claimant
requests that the Department submit an
application for an order for defined
monetary assistance on the claimant’s
behalf, and the Department determines
under the procedures set forth in this
rule that it will do so, the Department
will use reasonable efforts to facilitate
the submission of the application to the
court. In general, where the Department
is presenting an application to a court
to determine a claimant’s eligibility, the
research and drafting of the court
submission remains the responsibility of
the Department attorney representing
the Government. However, the claimant
is responsible for providing the
information to support their claim and
for providing responses to follow-up
requests for information from the
Department.
The proposed rule requested
comment on the appropriate criteria to
be included in the claim form and noted
that, to enable the Department to collect
information from claimants to facilitate
applications to courts and payments
from the Reserve, the Department would
submit an information collection
request and publish a notice of a new
Privacy Act system of records upon
publication of the final rule. 88 FR at
36521. These procedural requirements
are set forth by law, and the Department
declines to change the rule to provide
for a different process. Following this
process, the Department anticipates
posting a ‘‘claim form’’ on its website
that will allow claimants (1) to request
that the Department present an
application to the court or (2) if a
claimant already has a court order
determining eligibility and directing
payment, to provide the information
necessary for the Department to
facilitate that payment.
The proposed rule further explained
that the Department’s website will set
forth the information that a claimant
will be required to submit to the
Department in furtherance of a claim for
payment from the Reserve. Because the
information required may be modified
by the courts, the Department needs the
flexibility to update its claim form in
response to case law as it develops. And
because the Department believes that
the website will be sufficient to provide
appropriate information to claimants, no
change will be made to the rule in that
respect. The Department notes that, in
general, it will collect information to
establish the identity of the claimant,
the basis for the claim for eligibility for
defined monetary assistance, the
identity and authority of the person
submitting the form, and the identity of
any attorney representing the claimant
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or person submitting the form, if
applicable.
3. NCMEC stated that the proposed
rule should contain ‘‘more specific and
concrete language . . . about the
efforts’’ the Department will take to
ensure a claimant’s privacy. Another
commenter also expressed concerns
about protections for claimant privacy.
Response. In response to this
comment, the Department is revising the
final rule to state that the Department
will not publicly disclose any claimant’s
personally identifiable information,
except as necessary to process a request
or as required by law or court order.
More generally, the Department will
undertake to protect all victims’ privacy
consistent with applicable laws, rules,
and Department policies and
procedures. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C.
3509(d)(1) (providing for confidentiality
of information that discloses the name
or any other information concerning a
child); 18 U.S.C. 3771(a)(8) (stating
victims’ right to be treated with respect
for privacy); see also 5 U.S.C. 552a
(Privacy Act).
4. NCMEC stated that the proposed
rule ‘‘contain[s] no indication of how
DOJ will interpret constitutional and
statutory disclosure obligations to
defendants or whether disclosure of
victim information will be handled
differently if a claim is submitted to the
court after a defendant has already been
sentenced.’’
Response. The AVAA establishes an
entitlement to defined monetary
payment to a victim of a ‘‘defendant
who was convicted of trafficking in
child pornography.’’ 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(B). The Department
interprets the conviction component of
this requirement to mean a final
judgment of conviction, after
sentencing, although the Department
may submit an application for an order
of defined monetary assistance for the
court to decide in conjunction with a
defendant’s sentencing. The Department
does not anticipate handling victim
information differently based on
whether a defendant has been
sentenced. Moreover, the Department
cannot opine in advance on how a
particular constitutional or statutory
provision will apply to the facts of a
specific case. The Department will,
however, abide by all constitutional and
statutory disclosure obligations and, as
noted above, protect all victims’ privacy
consistent with applicable laws, rules,
and Department policies and
procedures.
5. NCMEC stated that the proposed
rule should require the Department to
‘‘submit any facially valid application’’
to the court and ‘‘leave it to the court
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alone to make’’ eligibility
determinations.
Response. The Department declines to
modify the rule as suggested. Because
the Department is obligated to
administer the Reserve in a manner
consistent with the AVAA and other
applicable law, the Department declines
to adopt a requirement that it submit
any facially valid application. Instead,
the Department will take reasonable
steps to ensure that defined monetary
assistance is paid only to claimants who
qualify for payment under the statute,
and it will determine whether to
support a claimant’s application
accordingly. Moreover, the procedures
set forth in this rule do not limit a
claimant’s ability to request an order for
defined monetary assistance directly
from a court. In addition, the AVAA
establishes, and the rule already
provides, that courts have the sole
authority to determine whether an
individual is entitled to payment under
the statute.
C. Other Comments
1. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should provide that the
Department must seek to obtain an order
of payment within 90 days after the
claimant’s request is complete, absent
extraordinary circumstances.
Response. Due to uncertainty
regarding the number of individuals
who will request that the Department
apply for payment, the number of
claims that will be pending at any given
moment, and the Department’s need to
ensure that only those individuals
determined by a court to be eligible for
payment under the statute receive such
payment, the Department has decided
not to impose specific timelines on
itself. The Department does, however,
commit itself to taking reasonable
measures to ensure prompt payment to
eligible individuals.
2. One commenter suggested that the
proposed rule make clear that victims of
open or closed (or ‘‘completed’’) cases
are entitled to seek payment and that
the Department will consider both open
and closed or ‘‘completed’’ cases in
determining the claimant’s eligibility for
payment.
Response. The statute does not
distinguish between victims in open
and closed cases. The Department has
revised the final rule to clarify that
victims of open or closed cases are
eligible to seek payment under the
statute. Although victims in open or
closed cases may request that the
Department apply for a court order of
payment from the Reserve, the
requirements for eligibility for payment
are established by statute, and
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satisfaction of those requirements are
determined by a court. One of the
requirements for eligibility is that the
claimant is a victim of a defendant who
has been convicted of trafficking in
child pornography.
3. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should make clear that if
the Department determines that it will
recommend against payment to a
claimant, the Department: (1) will give
the claimant at least 14 days advance
notice before informing the court of its
position; (2) will meet and confer with
the claimant and give meaningful
consideration to the claimant’s
concerns; and (3) will, if the Department
maintains its position, inform the
claimant that the claimant can seek
payment through the court independent
of the Department.
Response. The Department has
revised the final rule to clarify that if the
Department determines that it will
recommend against the court ordering
payment, the Department will make
reasonable efforts to inform the claimant
(or the claimant’s authorized
representative, if applicable) of that
recommendation prior to providing that
recommendation to the court. However,
due to uncertainty regarding the number
of individuals who will request that the
Department apply for payment, the
number of claims that will be pending
at any given moment, and the
Department’s need to ensure that only
those individuals determined by a court
to be eligible for payment under the
statute receive such payment, the
Department cannot commit itself to
acting within a prescribed time limit. A
claimant may submit a new application
to the Department to correct
shortcomings in an earlier application,
so long as the new application contains
material, additional information
supporting the claimant’s eligibility for
defined monetary assistance. A claimant
may also choose to present an
application without proceeding through
the Department under this final rule.
4. Two commenters stated that the
proposed rule should make clear that
payment can be paid to a claimant’s
representative. One of those
commenters further offered that the rule
should state what documentary
evidence is required for the Department
to deem a representative ‘‘authorized.’’
Response. The Department has
revised the final rule to clarify that
payment can be made to a victim’s
authorized representative, where
appropriate. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(4)
(‘‘In the case of a victim who is under
18 years of age, incompetent,
incapacitated, or deceased, the legal
guardian of the victim or representative
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of the victim’s estate, another family
member, or any other person appointed
as suitable by the court, may assume the
crime victim’s rights under this
section.’’). The Department’s website
will provide information concerning the
types of documentation that will suffice
to prove that a representative is
‘‘authorized.’’
5. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should, at least with
respect to claims supported by a verified
Federal judgment or restitution order,
provide for a ‘‘presumption of
eligibility’’ regarding those claims.
Response. The statute establishes the
criteria for eligibility and does not
include a presumption of eligibility. A
court ultimately determines whether a
claimant is eligible.
6. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should make clear ‘‘that
criminal restitution or civil damages
amounts collected before submitting a
claim . . . need not be deducted from
the defined monetary assistance
remitted to the claimant.’’
Response. The AVAA contains
provisions outlining the relationship
between payment from the Reserve and
payment in the form of restitution. See
18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)–(3). Section
2259(d)(2)(C) specifies that the amount
a victim received in defined monetary
assistance must be deducted from the
total amount of losses subsequently
sought in restitution. The Department
has added a statement in the rule to
make it clear that this statutory
deduction applies only to restitution
sought after a victim receives defined
monetary assistance. The amount of
restitution received need not be
deducted from the amount of defined
monetary assistance. Once a victim has
collected restitution in an amount
greater than the amount of defined
monetary assistance, however, the
victim would be ineligible for defined
monetary assistance in any amount.
Regarding amounts received before
the receipt of defined monetary
assistance, section 2259(d)(3) provides
that ‘‘[a] victim who has collected
payment of restitution pursuant to this
section in an amount greater than the
amount [of defined monetary assistance]
shall be ineligible to receive defined
monetary assistance.’’ In preparing this
final rule, the Department determined
that the discussion regarding this
provision in the preamble of the NPRM,
see 88 FR at 36519, was incorrect
because it assumed that a victim who
received restitution in an amount equal
to the amount of defined monetary
assistance would be ineligible to seek
defined monetary assistance. This
assumption is incorrect because the
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statute provides for ineligibility only if
the victim has collected restitution in an
amount ‘‘greater than’’ the amount of
defined monetary assistance. The
Department clarifies here that the
examples in the preamble of the NPRM
were inaccurate and that a victim who
has received restitution in an amount
less than or equal to the amount of
defined monetary assistance may
continue to seek the full amount of
defined monetary assistance.
7. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should clarify ‘‘all’’
potential reasons that the Department
might cite as a basis to decline a request
for payment.
Response. The Department is
committed to taking reasonable
measures to ensure that eligible
claimants receive payment from the
Reserve, consistent with the statute.
Because the Department is unable to
predict all possible requests that it
might receive, the Department declines
to provide an exhaustive list of reasons
why the Department would decline a
request to support an application for
payment. Moreover, only a court, not
the Department, can order, or decline to
order, payment to a claimant.
8. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should make clear that
funds paid out from the Reserve ‘‘ought
not be considered taxable income as a
matter of public policy.’’
Response. The Department does not
have the authority to determine what is
considered taxable income. The Internal
Revenue Code defines income and
provides specific items that are
excluded from income. As a general
rule, unless a payment or benefit is
specifically excluded, it is considered
income.
9. One commenter stated that
claimants may have a difficult time
submitting the necessary documentation
to the Department and recommended
that the rule ‘‘give greater deference to
delaying the adjudication of requests
than the returning of them.’’
Response. The Department is
committed to taking reasonable
measures to ensure that eligible victims
receive payment from the Reserve,
consistent with the statute. In that
respect, the Department is committed to
working with claimants to obtain
missing information before returning a
request to them. The rule provides that
the Department will make ‘‘reasonable
efforts’’ to request missing information
from a claimant and will make
‘‘reasonable efforts’’ to identify a
Federal criminal case in which a
claimant’s application might be
submitted. The Department under the
rule accordingly has discretion to
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determine, based on the claimant’s
circumstances, whether to delay the
return of an application to allow a
claimant additional time to submit
documentation. If, however, after
reasonable efforts, the Department is
unable to obtain the necessary
information or identify such a case, it
cannot present the claimant’s
application to a court and will return
the request to the claimant. The
Department does not ‘‘adjudicate’’ the
application in doing so. Neither this
rule nor the Department’s return of a
request limits the claimant’s ability to
present an application to a court.
Moreover, a claimant may submit a new
application to the Department to correct
shortcomings in an earlier application,
so long as the new application contains
material, additional information
supporting the claimant’s eligibility for
defined monetary assistance.
10. One commenter recommended
that the Department inform victims of
their right potentially to obtain
compensation from ‘‘their particular
state jurisdiction.’’
Response. The Department declines to
amend the rule to include information
about other sources of compensation
because this rule focuses on defined
monetary assistance. The Department
already provides information about
other victim compensation and
assistance on its website: https://
ovc.ojp.gov/help-for-victims/help-inyour-state.
11. One commenter stated that the
proposed rule should require the
creation of a system ‘‘to notify potential
claimants’’ of their ‘‘potential
eligibility’’ for payment.
Response. The Department declines to
amend the rule to require creation of a
notification system. The AVAA does not
provide for the creation of such a
system, and the Department does not
possess the information necessary to set
up a system of that nature. For example,
the Department does not regularly track
restitution payments and thus would
not know whether a claimant has
already received more than the amount
of defined monetary assistance in
restitution, which would make the
claimant ineligible under the statute.
Moreover, a court, not the Department,
determines whether a claimant is
eligible.
IV. Process To Obtain Defined
Monetary Assistance From the Reserve
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B)
and (C), a district court determines
whether a claimant is eligible to receive
defined monetary assistance, and, if it
makes such a finding, orders payment of
defined monetary assistance to the
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victim or the victim’s authorized
representative. The Act does not specify
any application process, but it does
authorize the Attorney General to
administer the Reserve. Pursuant to this
authorization, the Department has
established the process set forth in this
final rule to allow claimants to request
that the Department facilitate
obtainment of the requisite district court
order for the victim.
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A. Request and Review Process
This final rule is designed to assist
claimants in obtaining court
determinations of eligibility for payment
of defined monetary assistance from the
Reserve. As discussed more fully below,
defined monetary assistance is distinct
from court-ordered restitution.
Under the final rule, claimants may
choose to request that the Department
present an application to a court for the
court’s determination of eligibility for
defined monetary assistance. The
Department will review the request and
may follow up as needed to seek
additional information from the
claimant or the claimant’s authorized
representative in order to resolve any
gaps in the claimant’s supporting
information. It is the claimant’s
responsibility to present evidence
sufficient to establish a complete
request, but in no instance will the
claimant be required to send—nor shall
the claimant send—any images or
videos of child pornography. A request
is complete where it is supported by all
information required by the claim form
and by responses to follow-up requests
for information. The Department will
not present an application based on a
request that is incomplete or duplicative
of a request that the Department has
already received. The Department will
provide notice to a claimant if it decides
not to present the requested application
to the court.
After the Department receives a
claimant’s request, and the Department
has exhausted reasonable efforts to
obtain any needed additional
information from the claimant, the
Department will use reasonable efforts
to identify a Federal child pornography
trafficking case in which a visual
depiction of the claimant was involved.
The Department will consider any cases
identified by the claimant as well as any
in which the Department has
independent information linking the
claimant to a Federal child pornography
trafficking case. If, based on the
information in the request, the claimant
might be eligible for defined monetary
assistance as a result of more than one
case, the Department, in its sole
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discretion, will decide in which case it
will present the application.
It may take time for the Department to
identify an appropriate case to seek the
required court order or to determine
which of several potential cases is the
most appropriate. The Department will
endeavor to obtain the order in a timely
manner.
B. Presentment of an Application for an
Order Affirming Eligibility
Once the Department identifies an
appropriate case, the Department will
present the claimant’s application to the
district court, which may then issue an
order affirming the claimant’s eligibility
for payment. The mere presentment of
an application to a court does not imply
that the Department has taken a position
on the ultimate merits of the
application. The Department may or
may not (as it deems appropriate)
present the application with an
accompanying recommendation—for
example, the Department may include a
recommendation that the court grant the
application where the Department is
persuaded that the statutory standard
for payment is met. Conversely, the
Department may recommend that the
court deny the application if it is not
persuaded that the statutory standard
for payment is met. If the Department
determines that it will recommend
against the court ordering payment, the
Department will make reasonable efforts
to inform the claimant (or the claimant’s
authorized representative, if applicable)
of such recommendation prior to any
presentation of the claimant’s
application to the court.
In the event that the Department
disagrees with the court’s eligibility
determination, the Department may
decide to seek appellate review of a
ruling by a district court regarding the
claimant’s eligibility for defined
monetary assistance. The Department
will make reasonable efforts to consult
with the claimant (or the claimant’s
authorized representative, if applicable),
on the issue of seeking appellate review.
Depending on the basis for the court’s
ruling, the Department may seek to
present the claim underlying a denied
application in another case when it
would be appropriate to do so. The
Department will make reasonable efforts
to consult with the claimant (or the
claimant’s authorized representative, if
applicable) about any decision to
present a claim in another case.
If an application is denied by the
district court, no appellate review is
taken or such appellate review is
unsuccessful, and the claim underlying
an application is not presented in
another case, the claimant will not
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receive defined monetary assistance on
the basis of the claimant’s request to the
Department. If the claimant resubmits a
request to the Department with material,
additional supporting information, the
Department may present that new
application as consistent with these
regulations.
C. Payment
Once the court issues an order of
payment, the Department will pay the
victim (or an authorized representative,
if applicable) the defined monetary
assistance from the Reserve, as specified
in the order. Payment will typically be
made via electronic funds transfer
facilitated by the Department of the
Treasury, but the Department may use
other methods (e.g., physical check)
depending on the circumstances and
technology or systems in place at the
time of payment. Any money received
may be subject to Federal, State, or local
taxes.
D. Limits on Attorney Representative
Fees and Costs
There is no fee to submit a request to
the Department when seeking defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve,
and a claimant (or authorized
representative, if applicable) may
submit a request for defined monetary
assistance without being represented by
an attorney. Nonetheless, a claimant (or
authorized representative, if applicable)
may hire an attorney for this purpose; it
will be entirely the claimant’s or
authorized representative’s decision
whether to do so. Under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(4), if the claimant or authorized
representative is represented by
counsel, the attorney shall not charge,
receive, or collect, and the court may
not approve, any payment of fees and
costs that in the aggregate exceeds 15
percent of any defined monetary
assistance paid under the Act on such
claim. An attorney who violates this
provision is subject to fine,
imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
E. Privacy
Claimant submissions will not be
made public and will be protected and
used only in accordance with applicable
law, including the Privacy Act of 1974,
5 U.S.C. 552a. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
552a, 18 U.S.C. 3509(d)(1), and 18
U.S.C. 3771(a)(8), the Department will
not disclose to the public the names of
the individuals who have requested
defined monetary assistance from the
Reserve or the names of the deceased
claimants for whom defined monetary
assistance is sought from the Reserve, or
their personally identifiable
information, except as necessary to
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process a request or application or
obtain a court order, to bring a criminal
or civil case against an individual for
obtaining defined monetary assistance
by fraud, or pursuant to law or court
order. However, the fact that a victim
has received defined monetary
assistance may be introduced in a
Federal criminal proceeding where the
amount of the victim’s losses is at issue.
In Department filings, the Department
will protect the confidentiality of names
and other personally identifiable
information, including by submitting
filings under seal, consistent with
applicable law, rules, and Department
policies and procedures.
The process of providing a claimant
with access to information held by the
Government will be subject to all
applicable laws and regulations,
including the Privacy Act of 1974, 5
U.S.C. 552a, and subpart B of part 16 of
title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
F. Victim Choice as to Defined Monetary
Assistance Versus Restitution
Victims may choose to pursue
restitution; to pursue defined monetary
assistance; or to pursue some
combination of the two, whether in the
same case or in multiple cases, as
appropriate. 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(3)
provides that a victim who has
previously collected restitution in an
amount greater than the amount of the
defined monetary assistance available
under section 2259(d)(1)(D) is ineligible
to seek defined monetary assistance. A
victim who has collected restitution in
an amount less than or equal to the
amount of defined monetary assistance
(i.e., less than or equal to $35,000,
adjusted for inflation as of the date of
application and as described above) is
eligible to seek defined monetary
assistance. Although the statute does
not define the term ‘‘collected,’’ the
word ‘‘collected’’ ordinarily means
amounts actually received, not merely
amounts ordered but not yet paid. See,
e.g., Collect, Oxford English Dictionary,
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/36263
(last visited July 22, 2024) (defining
‘‘collect’’ to mean ‘‘to receive money’’).
There is often a lag between order and
payment. The amount collected is the
aggregated payment from all defendants.
Once victims have collected an amount
of restitution greater than the amount of
defined monetary assistance, they
become ineligible to obtain defined
monetary assistance. For example, a
defendant may have been ordered to pay
a victim $50,000 in restitution, but the
victim to date might have received only
$5,000. That victim would remain
eligible for defined monetary assistance
until the victim collects more than
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$35,000 (inflation-adjusted) in
restitution. If a victim obtains orders for
restitution, and then receives defined
monetary assistance, the amount of the
defined monetary assistance must be
disclosed if the victim is later asked to
provide information to a court
concerning the amount of recovery
collected pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259.
See 18 U.S.C. 2259(b)(2)(C), (d)(2)(C).
Collection of forms of monetary
recovery other than restitution, such as
from a civil suit, does not affect a
victim’s eligibility for defined monetary
assistance.
G. One-Time Defined Monetary
Assistance Payment; Effect on
Restitution and Civil Remedies
Under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(A), a
victim may receive a payment of
defined monetary assistance only once.
Even after receiving such a payment, a
victim can, under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(2)(B), decide to seek restitution
in court pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259.
However, 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(C)
specifies that the amount a victim
received in defined monetary assistance
must be deducted from the total amount
of losses subsequently sought in
restitution. For example, if a victim
obtains defined monetary assistance in
the amount of $35,000, and in a later
case pursues a restitution claim for
$100,000, the maximum amount
recoverable on the latter claim would be
$65,000.
Obtaining restitution or defined
monetary assistance does not bar
victims from seeking a civil remedy,
such as under 18 U.S.C. 2255, although
either may impact the amount the
victims recover in a civil suit.
H. Statutory Requirements for Eligibility
Defined monetary assistance is
available to any eligible ‘‘victim of . . .
trafficking in child pornography.’’ 18
U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(A). The Act imposes
three requirements for payment of
defined monetary assistance.
First, the claimant must appear in
child pornography that has been
trafficked. ‘‘Trafficking in child
pornography’’ is defined in 18 U.S.C.
2259(c)(3) by reference to statutes that
prohibit advertising, transporting,
distributing, receiving, or possessing
child pornography, or accessing child
pornography with intent to view it.
Second, at least one defendant must
have been convicted in Federal court of
conduct (advertising, transporting,
distributing, receiving, or possessing
child pornography, or accessing child
pornography with intent to view it)
involving a visual depiction of the
claimant. The Act imposes no time
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limits on when the conviction must
have occurred. Any qualifying
conviction serves as a basis for
establishing a claimant’s eligibility for
defined monetary assistance, so long as
there is sufficient evidence to obtain a
court order as required under the
statute.
Sometimes the evidence may suggest
that the defendant possessed child
pornography depicting a particular
victim, but the defendant’s conviction
was for a different crime. This could
happen if child pornography involving
Victim A was found on a defendant’s
computer, but the defendant was
actually convicted of producing child
pornography of Victim B or distributing
child pornography depicting Victim C.
Victim A would not be entitled to
defined monetary assistance based upon
that case, though Victim A might be
eligible in a different case.
A single conviction is sufficient to
establish a claimant’s eligibility. There
is no need under the Act to prove that
the claimant was a victim in more than
one conviction for trafficking in child
pornography.
Third, the claimant must appear in a
visual depiction that shows ‘‘sexually
explicit conduct’’ as defined in 18
U.S.C. 2256(2)(A) and must have been
under the age of 18 at the time the visual
depiction was created.
Not all images of children being
traded online meet this definition of
sexually explicit conduct. As one
example, some individuals may appear
in imagery that is illegal under State
law, but that is not prohibited under
Federal law. Because such images do
not depict ‘‘sexually explicit conduct’’
as defined in section 2256, individuals
appearing in such material would not be
eligible for defined monetary assistance.
In order to obtain defined monetary
assistance, the claimant would need to
establish that a defendant was convicted
of a Federal offense involving the
sexually explicit imagery.
A claimant need not be a United
States citizen and need not reside in the
United States in order to be eligible for
defined monetary assistance.
I. Section-by-Section Overview of Final
Rule
Section 81.51 sets forth the statutory
basis for and the purpose of the Reserve,
as well as the statutory one-time
payment amount.
Section 81.52 provides the definitions
applicable to this subpart. If a term is
not defined in section 81.52, the term
has the statutory definition at 18 U.S.C.
2256, 2259, 2259A, or 2259B.
Section 81.53 provides certain
requirements for eligibility for a
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payment from the Reserve, including
burden of proof and eligibility
exclusions, and specifies the effect of
collecting defined monetary assistance
on later requests for restitution.
Section 81.54 provides a description
for how persons may submit requests to
the Department for funds from the
Reserve using an online portal located
on the Department’s website for this
program. Additional information as to
how to submit a request to the
Department will be available on the
website.
Section 81.55 explains that the
claimant must follow the directions on
the Department’s website for this
program to submit a request to the
Department for monetary assistance.
Failure to submit all required
documentation would potentially result
in delay of the adjudication or return of
the request by the Department.
Section 81.56 details the procedures
to determine a personal representative
to request and receive funds on the
claimant’s behalf.
Section 81.57 provides the process by
which requests submitted to the
Department for defined monetary
assistance and court orders requiring
payment will be processed by the
Department.
Section 81.58 sets forth signatures and
certifications required for a request to
the Department to be considered
complete.
Section 81.59 provides information
related to privacy and confidentiality of
claimants’ names and other personally
identifiable information during the
course of the request process.
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V. Regulatory Analyses
A. Administrative Procedure Act
This final rule concerns matters
relating to ‘‘benefits,’’ 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2),
and also to ‘‘rules of . . . agency
procedure,’’ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
Therefore, it is exempt from the
requirement of prior notice and
comment and from a delay in its
effective date.
Nevertheless, the Department
believed that comments from the public
would be useful in developing these
regulatory changes. Consequently, on
June 5, 2023, 88 FR 36516, the
Department published a notice of
proposed rulemaking and solicited
public comments on this matter. The
comments received and the
Department’s responses thereto are set
forth in Part III above.
B. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and
14094 (Regulatory Review)
This final rule has been drafted and
reviewed in accordance with Executive
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Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory Planning and
Review,’’ section 1(b), Principles of
Regulation; in accordance with
Executive Order 13563, ‘‘Improving
Regulation and Regulatory Review,’’
section 1(b), General Principles of
Regulation; and in accordance with
Executive Order 14094, ‘‘Modernizing
Regulatory Review’’.
This final rule is not a ‘‘significant
regulatory action’’ under section 3(f) of
Executive Order 12866. The rule is
primarily procedural, dealing with the
administrative process of submitting
requests to the Department for defined
monetary assistance. The key eligibility
standards are set forth in the statute,
and the Department is not by this final
rule making any changes to those
standards.
As set forth in the cost-benefit
analysis below, this final rule will not
have the economic effects described in
section 3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866.
This regulation has no cost to State,
local, or Tribal governments, or to the
private sector. The Child Pornography
Victims Reserve is funded by
assessments paid by certain Federal
offenders, as well as gifts, bequests, or
donations from private individuals,
deposited into the Crime Victims Fund
in the United States Treasury and set
aside in the Reserve; those funds may
not be obligated in an amount above $10
million in any given year. See 18 U.S.C.
2259B(a); 34 U.S.C. 20101(d)(6).
The cost to the Federal Government
consists both of administrative expenses
and amounts distributed to victims.
Both types of costs depend on the
number of claimants, including both
prospective and retroactive claimants.
Although spending is anticipated to
be higher in the initial years as a result
of the number of potential retroactive
claimants, the program will not spend
more than the statutory maximum of
$10 million each fiscal year. That is,
even if claimants submit requests for
defined monetary assistance that, in the
aggregate, exceed $10 million in one
year, the Department will spend no
more than $10 million, and will pay
only those claims that can be satisfied
from that amount. In such a
circumstance, claims will be paid based
on the date on which courts ordered the
payments, with the earliest-ordered
payments made first. See 18 U.S.C.
2259B(b). Once the Department has paid
out the allotted $10 million dollars in
any given fiscal year, the requests that
remain unpaid will roll over into the
next fiscal year and will be processed in
the original order in which they were
ordered. The Department will also
follow the same order-of-payment
procedure in any other situation in
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which the Reserve has insufficient
funds to make all of the payments
ordered under section 2259(d).
The Department has assessed the
benefits and costs anticipated from this
rulemaking and has considered whether
there are reasonably feasible alternatives
to this rulemaking, including whether
there are reasonably viable nonregulatory actions that could be taken in
lieu of this rulemaking. The purpose of
this rulemaking is to provide the legal
and administrative framework for
defined monetary assistance to be given
to any individual (or an authorized
representative of such individual) who
is determined by a Federal court to be
a victim of trafficking in child
pornography as defined by 18 U.S.C.
2259(c) and (d). The Department
concludes that there are no viable nonregulatory actions that it could take to
implement the AVAA in a fair and
efficient manner.
C. Executive Order 13132
This regulation will not have
substantial direct effects on the States,
on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government. Therefore, under
Executive Order 13132, the Department
has determined that this regulation does
not have sufficient federalism
implications to warrant the preparation
of a federalism impact statement.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department certifies that this rule
will not have a significant economic
impact upon a substantial number of
small entities. This regulation pertains
to defined monetary assistance for
eligible individuals who are depicted in
child pornography that is the basis for
certain convictions under 18 U.S.C.
chapter 110. The Reserve will provide
payment to such child pornography
victims based on orders obtained in U.S.
district courts.
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of
1995
This regulation will not result in the
expenditure by State, local, and Tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or by the
private sector, of $100,000,000 or more
in any one year (adjusted annually for
inflation), and it will not significantly or
uniquely affect small governments.
Therefore, no actions were deemed
necessary under the provisions of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of
1995.
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F. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This final rule implements 18 U.S.C.
2259, 2259A, 2259B, and 34 U.S.C.
20101(d), which establish the Reserve
and define eligibility for payments from
the Reserve. In order to evaluate
requests and provide defined monetary
assistance, the Department must collect
certain information from individuals
who are depicted in child pornography
that is the basis for certain convictions
under 18 U.S.C. chapter 110, or from
their authorized representatives.
Accordingly, the Department’s
Executive Office for United States
Attorneys will submit an information
collection request for review and
clearance in accordance with the
procedures of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995.
G. Privacy Act of 1974
The Department will publish a notice
of a new Privacy Act system of records
upon publication of the final rule,
which will become effective upon
publication, subject to a 30-day
comment period for the routine uses
claimed in the notice. In the interim,
disclosures necessary to process
requests will be made only with the
prior written consent of claimants or as
otherwise authorized under 5 U.S.C.
552a(b).
H. Severability
It is the Department’s intent that if
any provision of this rule is held to be
invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or
as applied to any person or
circumstance, the remainder of the
provision or rule shall be workable and
construed so as to give it the maximum
effect permitted by law, unless such
holding shall be one of utter invalidity
or unenforceability, in which event such
provision shall be deemed severable
from this part and shall not affect the
remainder thereof or the application of
such provision to other persons not
similarly situated or to other, dissimilar
circumstances.
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 81
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Child abuse, Child pornography,
Victims, Restitution, Benefits.
By the authority vested in the
Attorney General under 5 U.S.C. 301
and 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, and for the
reasons stated in the preamble, 28 CFR
part 81 is amended as follows:
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PART 81—CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING
DESIGNATIONS AND PROCEDURES,
AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS
RESERVE
1. The authority citation for part 81
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; 42 U.S.C.
13031, 13032.
2. Revise the heading for part 81 to
read as set forth above.
■
§§ 81.1 through 81.5
Subpart A]
[Designated as
3. Designate §§ 81.1 through 81.5 as
subpart A.
■ 4. Add a heading for newly designated
subpart A to read as follows:
■
Subpart A—Child Abuse and Child
Pornography Reporting Designations
and Procedures
§§ 81.14 through 81.50
Reserved]
[Added and
5. Amend subpart B by adding and
reserving §§ 81.14 through 81.50.
■ 6. Add subpart C to read as follows:
■
Subpart C—Child Pornography Victims
Reserve
Sec.
81.51 Child Pornography Victims Reserve.
81.52 Definitions.
81.53 Eligibility.
81.54 Submission of requests to the
Department.
81.55 Supporting information.
81.56 Procedures for determining the
personal representative of an estate.
81.57 Request and order processing.
81.58 Signatures and certifications.
81.59 Privacy.
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 2259, 2259A, 2259B;
28 U.S.C. 509, 510; 34 U.S.C. 20101(d),
20341.
§ 81.51 Child Pornography Victims
Reserve.
The Child Pornography Victims
Reserve (‘‘Reserve’’) was established on
December 7, 2018, to provide a source
of defined monetary assistance for
eligible victims of trafficking in child
pornography, pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
2259(d). Pursuant to the authority of the
Department of Justice (‘‘the
Department’’) to administer the Reserve,
the Department will—
(a) Accept a request that the
Department seek a court order for a
determination of eligibility for defined
monetary assistance from a claimant
who chooses to proceed through the
Department;
(b) Process such request and use
reasonable efforts to follow up with
such claimant to obtain information
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sufficient for a court to determine the
claimant’s eligibility for defined
monetary assistance;
(c) Upon confirming that the request
to the Department is complete and not
duplicative of a previously received
request, use reasonable efforts to
identify a Federal child pornography
trafficking case in which an image of the
identified victim appears and in which
the Department may present an
application for court determination of
the claimant’s eligibility; and
(d) Pay a claimant (or an authorized
representative, if applicable) pursuant to
a Federal court order determining that
such claimant is eligible to receive
defined monetary assistance.
§ 81.52
Definitions.
(a) If a term is not defined in this
section, the statutory definition at 18
U.S.C. 2256, 2259, 2259A, or 2259B
applies to the submission and
processing of requests to the
Department.
(b) Authorized representative means
an attorney or legal guardian (for
claimants under age 18, incompetent, or
incapacitated) of a claimant, the
personal representative of a deceased
claimant’s estate, any other person
appointed as a representative of a
claimant by a Federal court pursuant to
18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(4), or a personal
representative designated by the
claimant to act on the claimant’s behalf.
(c) Claimant means the person who
claims to be a victim of trafficking in
child pornography and to be eligible for
the defined monetary assistance at 18
U.S.C. 2259(d).
(d) Reserve means the Child
Pornography Victims Reserve set forth
in 34 U.S.C. 20101(d)(6). The
Department may also refer to the
Reserve as the Defined Monetary
Assistance Victims Reserve.
(e) Victim or victim of trafficking in
child pornography means a person
whom a Federal court has determined,
under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B), to be a
victim of trafficking in child
pornography.
§ 81.53
Eligibility.
(a) Presentment of claims for payment
to Federal courts. If a claimant chooses
to submit a request to the Department,
the Department shall review a properly
submitted request and, as necessary, ask
the claimant (or the claimant’s
authorized representative, if applicable)
for additional information to support
the request. Once the Department
confirms the request is complete and
not duplicative of a previously received
request, the Department will use
reasonable efforts to find an appropriate
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case in which to present the claim by
means of an application for an order of
payment of defined monetary assistance
in a Federal court. An appropriate case
may be an open or closed case. If the
Department is unable to locate an
appropriate case, it will notify the
claimant and may decline to present the
claim. If the Department presents the
claimant’s application to a court, the
Department may include a
recommendation as to whether the court
should grant or deny the application.
(b) Determination by a court. A
Federal court will make the
determination, under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(B), as to whether a claimant
is entitled to defined monetary
assistance from the Reserve and, if so,
shall order payment in the amount
specified in 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(D).
This amount is $35,000 as adjusted for
inflation from December 7, 2018, based
on the date of the court’s order, in
accordance with 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(D).
(c) Payment. The Department shall
pay to the victim (or the victim’s
authorized representative, if applicable)
from the Reserve the defined monetary
assistance set forth in 18 U.S.C. 2259, in
accordance with the applicable Federal
court order and consistent with 18
U.S.C. 2259B(b).
(d) Exclusions. (1) A victim may
obtain defined monetary assistance
under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d) only once. See
18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(A).
(2) In no event shall an individual
who is convicted of an act described in
18 U.S.C. chapter 110, with respect to
the victim, receive any defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve on
behalf of the victim. See 18 U.S.C.
2259(c)(4).
(3) Claimants who have collected
restitution payments in excess of
$35,000 (as adjusted for inflation from
December 7, 2018) pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
2259 are not eligible to receive defined
monetary assistance under this program.
See 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(3).
(e) Effect on restitution. If a victim has
received defined monetary assistance
and, after receiving that defined
monetary assistance, seeks restitution,
the amount the victim received in
defined monetary assistance must be
deducted when determining the full
amount of the victim’s losses for
purposes of restitution. See 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(2)(C).
§ 81.54 Submission of requests to the
Department.
(a) Requests submitted to the
Department must be submitted in the
form and manner, and supported by
documentation, specified from time to
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15:59 Nov 22, 2024
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time by the Department. The
Department’s website will contain
directions on how to access the claims
system for defined monetary assistance.
(b) Requests may be submitted to the
Department at any time. The
Department may decline to present to a
court any application based on a request
that duplicates a previously received
request. A request duplicates a
previously received request if it is
submitted by or in connection with the
same claimant and is premised on the
same conduct as the previously received
request. If a claimant obtains new
information relevant to a claim after
submitting a request, the claimant
should amend that request rather than
submitting a new request. If the
Department has already returned the
request to the claimant, the claimant
may submit a new request, so long as
such request contains material,
additional information supporting the
claimant’s eligibility for defined
monetary assistance.
(c) If a claimant is represented by an
authorized representative, the request to
the Department and any supporting
information may be submitted to the
Department by that authorized
representative. The authorized
representative must submit a separate
request on behalf of each represented
claimant.
§ 81.55
Supporting information.
(a) As part of a request to the
Department, the claimant should submit
information as instructed by the
Department. The Department’s website
will provide instruction about what
information is required in support of a
claim. Failure to submit all required
information may result in delay or a
decision by the Department not to
present the claimant’s application to a
court.
(b) All information supporting the
request should be updated as necessary
while the request to the Department is
pending, including the amounts of any
restitution collected, address changes,
changes to information needed to
process payment to the claimant, and
any other pertinent information that
may be relevant to the request.
(c) To avoid a potential violation of
Federal law, claimants (or authorized
representatives, if applicable) shall not
send images or videos of child
pornography when providing
supporting information.
§ 81.56 Procedures for determining the
personal representative of an estate.
(a) In general. For any request to the
Department by the estate of a deceased
claimant, the personal representative of
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92803
the estate, who will be the authorized
representative for purposes of defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve,
shall be determined as follows:
(1) First preference will be given to an
individual appointed by a court of
competent jurisdiction as the personal
representative of the deceased claimant
or as the executor or administrator of
the deceased claimant’s will or estate.
(2) In the event that no personal
representative or executor or
administrator has been appointed by
any court of competent jurisdiction, and
such issue is not the subject of pending
litigation or other dispute, the next
preferred personal representative for
purposes of defined monetary assistance
from the Reserve will be the person
named by the deceased claimant in the
deceased claimant’s will as the executor
or administrator of the deceased
claimant’s estate.
(3) In the event that no will exists, the
next preference for personal
representative for purposes of defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve
will be the first person in the line of
succession for inheritance established
by the laws of the deceased claimant’s
domicile governing intestacy. In the
case where State law provides for two
or more persons to inherit in equal
shares (e.g., parents or siblings), the
defined monetary assistance payment
will be split accordingly.
(4) In the event that none of the
individuals described in paragraphs
(a)(1) through (3) of this section are
available to serve as personal
representative, any other person may
seek to be appointed by a court of
competent jurisdiction as the personal
representative for purposes of defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve.
Upon appointment, that person will
serve as personal representative.
(b) Notice to beneficiaries. (1) Any
purported personal representative must,
before submitting a request to the
Department, provide written notice of
the intent to submit a request and the
procedures in paragraph (c) of this
section to object to such status as
personal representative to the
immediate family of the deceased
claimant; to the executor, administrator,
and beneficiaries of the deceased
claimant’s will; and to any other
persons who may reasonably be
expected to assert an interest in an
award or to have a cause of action to
recover damages relating to the
wrongful death of the deceased
claimant.
(2) Personal delivery or transmission
by certified mail, return receipt
requested, shall be deemed sufficient
notice under this subpart. The
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purported personal representative must
certify that such notice (or other notice
that the Department deems appropriate)
has been given.
(c) Objections to personal
representatives. Objections to the
authority of an individual to file as the
personal representative of a deceased
claimant may be submitted to the
Department, as instructed on the
Department’s website for this program,
by parties who assert a financial interest
in the award. Any such objection must
be submitted within 30 days following
receipt of notice by the personal
representative as defined under this
section. If timely submitted, such
objections shall be treated as evidence
of a ‘‘dispute’’ under paragraph (d) of
this section.
(d) Disputes as to the identity of the
personal representative. The
Department will not, and shall not be
required to, arbitrate, litigate, or
otherwise resolve any dispute as to the
identity of the personal representative.
In the event of a dispute over the
appropriate personal representative, the
Department may suspend or return a
request to the claimant without
prejudice to its later resubmission and
may withhold any payment until the
dispute is resolved either by agreement
of the disputing parties or by a court of
competent jurisdiction. Alternatively,
the disputing parties may agree in
writing to the identity of a personal
representative to act on their behalf,
who may seek and accept defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve
while the disputing parties work to
settle their dispute.
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§ 81.57
Request and order processing.
(a) Upon receipt of a request to the
Department, the Department will review
it and may follow up with the claimant
(or authorized representative, if
applicable) to resolve any gaps in the
request’s supporting information.
(b) The Department will then use
reasonable efforts to identify an open or
closed Federal criminal case involving
the claimant to present the claimant’s
application (with supporting
information, as appropriate) for a court
to determine the claimant’s eligibility to
receive defined monetary assistance. If
the Department is unable to locate such
a case, it will notify the claimant (or the
claimant’s authorized representative, if
applicable). If the Department presents
the claimant’s application to a court, in
its sole discretion, the Department may
or may not present the claim with an
accompanying recommendation that the
court order payment or not. If the
Department determines that it will
recommend against the court ordering
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15:59 Nov 22, 2024
Jkt 265001
payment, the Department will make
reasonable efforts to inform the claimant
(or the claimant’s authorized
representative, if applicable) of such
recommendation prior to any
presentation of the application to the
court.
(c) If a court issues an order requiring
payment to any claimant, the
Department will process payment of
defined monetary assistance to the
claimant or, where appropriate, to the
claimant’s authorized representative, in
accordance with the order in the
amount specified therein, upon receipt
of the order and the requisite
information from the claimant following
instructions on the Department’s
website for this program. Failure to
submit all required information to the
Department may result in delay of
payment.
(d) If the court issues an order
denying eligibility based on an
application submitted by the
Department, the Department will notify
the claimant (or the claimant’s
authorized representative, if applicable).
The Department may decide to seek
appellate review of a ruling by a district
court regarding a claimant’s eligibility
for defined monetary assistance. The
Department will make reasonable efforts
to consult with the claimant (or the
claimant’s authorized representative, if
applicable) on the issue of appellate
review.
§ 81.58
Signatures and certifications.
A request to the Department will be
deemed submitted when it is submitted
online at the Department’s website for
this program; or, as provided in
accordance with § 81.54, consistent with
the instructions on the claim form. By
submitting the request, the claimant (or,
if submitted by an authorized
representative, the authorized
representative) acknowledges and
certifies as to each of the following:
(a) Veracity of request. The claimant
certifies, under oath, subject to penalty
of perjury or in a manner that meets the
requirements of 28 U.S.C. 1746, that the
information provided in the request and
any documents submitted in support of
the request are true and accurate to the
best of the claimant’s knowledge, and
the claimant agrees that any defined
monetary assistance paid from the
Reserve is expressly conditioned upon
the truthfulness and accuracy of the
information and documentation
submitted in support of the request.
Where a claimant is represented by an
authorized representative, that
representative must have authority to
certify the request on behalf of the
claimant.
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(b) Potential criminal penalties. The
claimant understands that false
statements or claims made in
connection with the request may result
in fines, imprisonment, and any other
remedy available by law to the Federal
Government, including fines and
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C.
1001 and treble damages and civil
penalties under the False Claims Act, 31
U.S.C. 3729, et seq. Requests that appear
to be potentially fraudulent or to
contain false information may be
forwarded to Federal, State, and local
law enforcement authorities for possible
investigation and prosecution.
(c) Limitation on attorney fees. If a
claimant is represented by counsel, no
attorney shall charge, receive, or collect
any payment of fees and costs that in
the aggregate exceeds 15 percent of any
defined monetary assistance paid on
such application. An attorney who
violates this provision is subject to fine,
imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
§ 81.59
Privacy.
The Department will not disclose to
the public the names of the claimants
(or their authorized representatives, if
applicable) who have requested defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve
under this program, or their other
personally identifiable information,
except as necessary to process a request
or application or pursuant to law or
court order.
Dated: November 8, 2024.
Merrick B. Garland,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 2024–26679 Filed 11–22–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–14–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 165
[Docket Number USCG–2024–0393]
RIN 1625–AA11
Regulated Navigation Area; Cuyahoga
River, Cleveland, OH
Coast Guard, DHS.
Interim rule and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Coast Guard is issuing an
Interim Final Rule establishing a
Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) for
certain waters of the Cuyahoga River in
Cleveland, Ohio. This action is
necessary to provide for the safety of life
on these navigable waters near the
‘‘Irishtown Bend’’ in Cleveland, Ohio,
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 92794-92804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26679]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
28 CFR Part 81
[Docket No. CRM 120; AG Order No. 6090-2024]
RIN 1105-AB57
Implementing the Child Pornography Victims Reserve
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This final rule finalizes with changes the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (``NPRM'') published by Department of Justice
(``Department'' or ``DOJ'') to implement the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child
Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, which established the Child
Pornography Victims Reserve to provide defined monetary assistance to
eligible individuals who are depicted in child pornography that is the
basis for certain convictions.
DATES: This final rule is effective November 25, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Pierce, Senior Advisor,
Office for Victims of Crime, 810 7th Street NW, Rm. 2246, Washington,
DC 20531, telephone (202) 307-6785 (not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Executive Summary
Congress established the Child Pornography Victims Reserve
(``Reserve'') to provide defined monetary assistance to eligible
individuals who are depicted in child pornography that is the basis for
certain convictions under chapter 110 of title 18. The Amy, Vicky, and
Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 (``the AVAA'' or
``the Act''), Public Law 115-299, secs. 4-5, 132 Stat 4383, 4385-88,
codified at 18 U.S.C. 2259, 2259A, and 2259B, and 34 U.S.C. 20101(d).
Under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d), a United States district court may order
payment from the Reserve to a victim of a defendant convicted in
Federal court of trafficking in child pornography depicting that
victim. The Department, pursuant to this final rule, will make a
payment from the Reserve to such child pornography victims based on
orders obtained in United States district courts.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This rule uses the term ``child pornography,'' instead of
the currently preferred term ``child sexual abuse material,'' to
match the language used in the Act. To avoid using the term ``child
pornography'' in resource and application materials directed to
potential claimants, however, the Department will describe the Child
Pornography Victims Reserve established by the Act as the ``Defined
Monetary Assistance Victims Reserve'' in such resource and
application materials.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department published an NPRM on June 5, 2023, Implementing the
Child Pornography Victims Reserve, 88 FR 36516, proposing to implement
the AVAA, and received public comments.
The Department is now issuing this final rule pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
2259B(c), which provides that the Attorney General shall issue
regulations to implement the payment of defined monetary assistance out
of the Reserve. This final rule outlines procedures for persons to
request to apply through the Department for a court order determining
eligibility and directing payment of defined monetary assistance. It is
not intended to limit how a claimant might seek an order for defined
monetary assistance directly from a court.
As set forth in more detail below, if a claimant chooses to proceed
through the Department, the Department may present the claimant's
application for a court order. (``Claimant'' means the person who
claims to be a victim of trafficking in child pornography and to be
eligible for the defined monetary assistance under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d),
and ``victim'' or ``victim of trafficking in child pornography'' means
a person whom a Federal court has determined, under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(B), to be a victim of trafficking in child pornography.) The
Department will provide payment from the Reserve to the victim (or an
authorized representative, if applicable) pursuant to a court order
issued under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(C), upon receipt of the order and the
requisite information from the claimant following instructions on the
Department's website for this program: https://www.justice.gov/DMAVR.
The final rule also sets forth procedures by which persons may
submit requests to the Department, including through their attorney, a
legal guardian (in the case of claimants under the age of 18 or who are
incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased), or a representative
authorized by the claimant, which includes a personal representative of
an estate (for deceased claimants) (collectively, ``authorized
representative''). The final rule is procedural in nature, implementing
a process by which a claimant may request that the Department
facilitate the claimant's request that a court make a determination of
eligibility pursuant to the eligibility requirements of the Act. It
does not create new rights or impose obligations independent of the
statute, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship between
the claimant and any Department attorney.
II. Background
Under Federal law, victims of child pornography offenses are
entitled to full and timely restitution from defendants charged and
convicted in Federal court, including restitution for losses caused by
conduct such as the possession, receipt, viewing, transportation, and
distribution of child pornography. See 18 U.S.C. 2259. Restitution is
imposed upon an individual criminal defendant by a Federal court in
connection with sentencing, and the obligation to pay restitution is
part of the defendant's criminal sentence. See id.; see also 18 U.S.C.
3663A. The Federal Government bears the burden of proving that the
defendant owes restitution to a victim, although a defendant can agree
to pay restitution as part of a plea agreement. In order for a court to
impose a restitution obligation on a child pornography trafficking
defendant, the Federal Government, represented by the prosecutor, must
prove the following:
Victim status: This element means that the person seeking
restitution is a victim, i.e., that the person has been harmed as a
result of the commission of a Federal child pornography trafficking
crime.
Losses: This element refers to the amount of losses
incurred by the victim, both since the offense took place and that are
reasonably projected to be incurred in the future. There is no
statutory limit on how much restitution may be ordered to be paid to a
victim, but there must be a sufficient evidentiary basis to prove that
all of the losses have been or are reasonably projected to be incurred.
The statute permits recovery for the following types of losses: medical
services relating to physical, psychiatric, or psychological care;
physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation; necessary
transportation, temporary housing, and child care expenses; lost
income; reasonable attorneys' fees, as well as other costs incurred;
and any other relevant losses incurred by the victim. 18 U.S.C.
2259(c)(2). Restitution losses are limited to actual monetary losses
and should not be confused with amounts of money a victim might be
[[Page 92795]]
awarded for pain and suffering or punitive damages in a civil tort
lawsuit.
Causation: As discussed in more detail below, this element
requires proof that the losses were caused in the aggregate by the
trade in child pornography depicting the victim.
Amount: In cases where multiple defendants contributed to
the victim's losses, the court must determine how much each individual
defendant should pay to the victim.
In all Federal cases, restitution is obtained on a case-by-case
basis. Because child pornography can be possessed and shared by many
different unrelated criminal defendants and distributed repeatedly, a
single child pornography trafficking victim may receive restitution
orders in hundreds of individual criminal cases being brought in
different Federal courts all over the country. Under current law, each
of these defendants is ordered to pay some portion of the victim's
overall losses. Once the victim has collected payment for the full
amount of the victim's losses from one or more defendants, no further
restitution orders can be imposed on additional defendants on the
victim's behalf unless new losses are incurred. See 18 U.S.C.
2259(b)(2)(C).
In 2009, a victim sought restitution for the first time, not from
the individual who sexually abused her and produced and shared the
images, but from individuals who subsequently traded and collected
those images. A small number of other child pornography victims
subsequently sought similar restitution. Federal prosecutors across the
country were soon seeking restitution for victims in Federal courts in
child pornography possession, receipt, and distribution cases.
Despite the Department's overall success in obtaining orders of
restitution for these victims, courts were inconsistent in their
approach to restitution claims. Some courts struggled to determine
whether an individual defendant convicted of possession, receipt, or
distribution proximately caused a victim's losses. If a defendant was
only one of thousands who harmed the victim, then some courts indicated
that the defendant could not be said to have caused the victim's losses
because those losses would be essentially the same if that particular
defendant had never committed the crime. On that logic, some courts
simply denied the restitution requests. Others demanded a showing as to
how much an individual defendant's crime incrementally increased the
victim's losses, imposing a generally insurmountable evidentiary
burden. Among courts that awarded restitution, many grappled with how
to determine the amount that the defendant should pay to the victim.
These issues were brought to the Supreme Court in Paroline v.
United States, 572 U.S. 434 (2014). After finding that section 2259
required proof of proximate causation for all the categories of losses
referenced in the statute, the Court summed up the problem this way:
In this case . . . , a showing of but-for causation cannot be
made. . . . From the victim's perspective, Paroline was just one of
thousands of anonymous possessors. . . . [I]t is not possible to
prove that her losses would be less (and by how much) but for one
possessor's individual role in the large, loosely connected network
through which her images circulate. Even without Paroline's offense,
thousands would have viewed and would in the future view the
victim's images, so it cannot be shown that her trauma and attendant
losses would have been any different but for Paroline's offense.
Id. at 450 (internal citations omitted).
To resolve this dilemma, the Court adopted the less demanding
aggregate causation standard:
[A]lternative and less demanding causal standards are necessary
in certain circumstances to vindicate the law's purposes. It would
be anomalous to turn away a person harmed by the combined acts of
many wrongdoers simply because none of those wrongdoers alone caused
the harm. And it would be nonsensical to adopt a rule whereby
individuals hurt by the combined wrongful acts of many (and thus in
many instances hurt more badly than otherwise) would have no
redress, whereas individuals hurt by the acts of one person alone
would have a remedy.
Id. at 452. Therefore, the Court concluded:
In this special context, where it can be shown both that a
defendant possessed a victim's images and that a victim has
outstanding losses caused by the continuing traffic in those images
but where it is impossible to trace a particular amount of those
losses to the individual defendant by recourse to a more traditional
causal inquiry, a court applying Sec. 2259 should order restitution
in an amount that comports with the defendant's relative role in the
causal process that underlies the victim's general losses.
Id. at 458. The Court then considered how district courts might
determine the amount a given defendant should pay a victim in
restitution. To provide guidance, the Court cited a number of factors
courts might consider, including ``the number of past criminal
defendants found to have contributed to the victim's general losses; .
. . whether the defendant reproduced or distributed images of the
victim; whether the defendant had any connection to the initial
production of the images; how many images of the victim the defendant
possessed; and other facts relevant to the defendant's relative causal
role.'' Id. at 460.
The aggregate causation standard is easily understood and applied.
To the extent that restitution is contested, the dispute is often
solely over how much a defendant should be ordered to pay a given
victim.
Nonetheless, even after Paroline, few victims exercised their right
to restitution. It appeared that the process of tracking hundreds of
cases around the country over the course of years was too burdensome.
Almost all victims seeking restitution in child pornography trafficking
cases hire an attorney to help coordinate the logistics. In addition,
although the Government bears the burden of proving restitution, in
order to submit estimates of future losses, many victims hire
psychological experts and economic analysts to help prepare their
claims. The necessity of engaging multiple experts has served as a
barrier that prevents victims from seeking restitution at all.
Congress therefore enacted the AVAA to create an alternative system
to allow victims of trafficking in child pornography to obtain some
measure of compensation (called ``defined monetary assistance'')
without having to prove their losses. The process of obtaining defined
monetary assistance is an alternative to the traditional means of
seeking restitution as part of a Federal prosecution. Providing the
defined monetary assistance alternative is meant to ameliorate the
structural impediments that prevent victims from claiming restitution
while preserving the option of obtaining full restitution for those who
wish to do so. Under the terms of the statute, victims of these types
of child pornography offenses can choose whether to present their full
restitution claims in court through prosecutors, as is currently done,
obtain a one-time payment of defined monetary assistance, or both,
depending on the circumstances. The amount of defined monetary
assistance in 2019 was $35,000, but the amount is adjusted for
inflation over time. 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(D).
The Act provides that the ``Attorney General shall administer'' the
Reserve. See 18 U.S.C. 2259B(c). The determination regarding victim
eligibility for the payment is made by the court. The procedural
details of the Department's administration of the Reserve and the
substantive law applicable to the court's determination are discussed
in Part IV of this preamble.
[[Page 92796]]
III. Discussion of Comments Received on the NPRM
Notice of the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register
on June 5, 2023. Before the comment period closed on August 4, 2023,
comments were received from 11 commenters.\2\ These comments were
largely supportive of the rule and focused primarily on seeking
additional information about how the Department plans to implement the
rule. The Department has made a few amendments to the rule in response
to some of the comments. The Department also amended Sec. 81.55(c) to
clarify that claimants should not submit videos, in addition to not
submitting images, of child pornography as supporting information
because transmitting videos of child pornography could also potentially
violate Federal law. A discussion of comments received, and the
Department's responses, follows.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The Department also received one web submission from a
person who indicated that the person's comment was included as an
attachment. No attachment was included, however, and the Department
did not receive any response from the submitter after inquiring
about the apparently missing attachment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Comment From the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
(``AO'')
1. The AO stated that the proposed rule does ``not provide
specifics as to the information the Department will require victims to
provide as part of th[e] application process'' and does ``not address
how the applications will be presented to the courts for a
determination of eligibility.'' Another commenter similarly stated that
the rule should provide that the Department's website contain certain
specified information and be accessible for at least 30 days before
``program commencement.''
Response. The proposed rule stated that the Department, through its
website, will set out the specific information that a claimant will be
required to submit. The Department declines to amend the rule to
require that the website be accessible for 30 days before requests for
applications to a court can be submitted, given uncertainty about the
time it will take to build the new website and portal; requiring a
fixed amount of time before submission of requests would delay the
ability of eligible victims to submit their requests through the
Department if they choose to do so. The Department will address how
applications will be presented to the courts through internal guidance.
The Department anticipates that it and the AO will continue to
collaborate on the implementation of the Reserve.
B. Comments From the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
(``NCMEC'')
1. NCMEC stated that the proposed rule is ``largely silent . . .
regarding the timing and details of the process for when DOJ will
present a victim's claim for payment to a federal court'' and that,
absent more specific deadlines or assurances of promptness, the
Department's process may be delayed, which would in turn impede victims
from obtaining payment. Two commenters stated that the proposed rule
should contain specific time limitations by which the Department will
act in connection with a claimant's request for payment from the
Reserve.
Response. The statute does not provide any deadline or limitations
period for submitting a claim for defined monetary assistance to a
court. The Department likewise declines to impose a deadline or
limitations period on itself because it lacks sufficient information at
this time to do so. It does not know, for example, the number of
individuals who will request that the Department apply for an order of
defined monetary assistance, the number of claims that will be pending
in court at any given moment, or the extent to which the Department
will need to adopt additional internal measures to ensure that only
those individuals determined by a court to be eligible for payment
under the statute receive such payment. The Department does, however,
commit itself to taking reasonable measures to ensure prompt payment to
eligible individuals. Moreover, and in any event, the procedures set
forth in this rule do not limit a claimant's ability to request an
order for defined monetary assistance directly from a court.
2. NCMEC stated that the proposed rule does ``not provide any
details or even basic descriptions of what actual information a
survivor will be required to submit to DOJ to support a claim.''
Relatedly, NCMEC stated that the proposed rule should make clear that
although a victim can fairly be required to provide some information in
support of a claim for payment from the Reserve, ``the research and
effort needed to draft a suitable federal court submission in this
situation remains DOJ's responsibility.''
Response. A court will ultimately determine what information is
necessary to support a claim for defined monetary assistance, and this
rule does not limit a claimant's ability to request an order for
defined monetary assistance directly from a court. If a claimant
requests that the Department submit an application for an order for
defined monetary assistance on the claimant's behalf, and the
Department determines under the procedures set forth in this rule that
it will do so, the Department will use reasonable efforts to facilitate
the submission of the application to the court. In general, where the
Department is presenting an application to a court to determine a
claimant's eligibility, the research and drafting of the court
submission remains the responsibility of the Department attorney
representing the Government. However, the claimant is responsible for
providing the information to support their claim and for providing
responses to follow-up requests for information from the Department.
The proposed rule requested comment on the appropriate criteria to
be included in the claim form and noted that, to enable the Department
to collect information from claimants to facilitate applications to
courts and payments from the Reserve, the Department would submit an
information collection request and publish a notice of a new Privacy
Act system of records upon publication of the final rule. 88 FR at
36521. These procedural requirements are set forth by law, and the
Department declines to change the rule to provide for a different
process. Following this process, the Department anticipates posting a
``claim form'' on its website that will allow claimants (1) to request
that the Department present an application to the court or (2) if a
claimant already has a court order determining eligibility and
directing payment, to provide the information necessary for the
Department to facilitate that payment.
The proposed rule further explained that the Department's website
will set forth the information that a claimant will be required to
submit to the Department in furtherance of a claim for payment from the
Reserve. Because the information required may be modified by the
courts, the Department needs the flexibility to update its claim form
in response to case law as it develops. And because the Department
believes that the website will be sufficient to provide appropriate
information to claimants, no change will be made to the rule in that
respect. The Department notes that, in general, it will collect
information to establish the identity of the claimant, the basis for
the claim for eligibility for defined monetary assistance, the identity
and authority of the person submitting the form, and the identity of
any attorney representing the claimant
[[Page 92797]]
or person submitting the form, if applicable.
3. NCMEC stated that the proposed rule should contain ``more
specific and concrete language . . . about the efforts'' the Department
will take to ensure a claimant's privacy. Another commenter also
expressed concerns about protections for claimant privacy.
Response. In response to this comment, the Department is revising
the final rule to state that the Department will not publicly disclose
any claimant's personally identifiable information, except as necessary
to process a request or as required by law or court order. More
generally, the Department will undertake to protect all victims'
privacy consistent with applicable laws, rules, and Department policies
and procedures. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 3509(d)(1) (providing for
confidentiality of information that discloses the name or any other
information concerning a child); 18 U.S.C. 3771(a)(8) (stating victims'
right to be treated with respect for privacy); see also 5 U.S.C. 552a
(Privacy Act).
4. NCMEC stated that the proposed rule ``contain[s] no indication
of how DOJ will interpret constitutional and statutory disclosure
obligations to defendants or whether disclosure of victim information
will be handled differently if a claim is submitted to the court after
a defendant has already been sentenced.''
Response. The AVAA establishes an entitlement to defined monetary
payment to a victim of a ``defendant who was convicted of trafficking
in child pornography.'' 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B). The Department
interprets the conviction component of this requirement to mean a final
judgment of conviction, after sentencing, although the Department may
submit an application for an order of defined monetary assistance for
the court to decide in conjunction with a defendant's sentencing. The
Department does not anticipate handling victim information differently
based on whether a defendant has been sentenced. Moreover, the
Department cannot opine in advance on how a particular constitutional
or statutory provision will apply to the facts of a specific case. The
Department will, however, abide by all constitutional and statutory
disclosure obligations and, as noted above, protect all victims'
privacy consistent with applicable laws, rules, and Department policies
and procedures.
5. NCMEC stated that the proposed rule should require the
Department to ``submit any facially valid application'' to the court
and ``leave it to the court alone to make'' eligibility determinations.
Response. The Department declines to modify the rule as suggested.
Because the Department is obligated to administer the Reserve in a
manner consistent with the AVAA and other applicable law, the
Department declines to adopt a requirement that it submit any facially
valid application. Instead, the Department will take reasonable steps
to ensure that defined monetary assistance is paid only to claimants
who qualify for payment under the statute, and it will determine
whether to support a claimant's application accordingly. Moreover, the
procedures set forth in this rule do not limit a claimant's ability to
request an order for defined monetary assistance directly from a court.
In addition, the AVAA establishes, and the rule already provides, that
courts have the sole authority to determine whether an individual is
entitled to payment under the statute.
C. Other Comments
1. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should provide that
the Department must seek to obtain an order of payment within 90 days
after the claimant's request is complete, absent extraordinary
circumstances.
Response. Due to uncertainty regarding the number of individuals
who will request that the Department apply for payment, the number of
claims that will be pending at any given moment, and the Department's
need to ensure that only those individuals determined by a court to be
eligible for payment under the statute receive such payment, the
Department has decided not to impose specific timelines on itself. The
Department does, however, commit itself to taking reasonable measures
to ensure prompt payment to eligible individuals.
2. One commenter suggested that the proposed rule make clear that
victims of open or closed (or ``completed'') cases are entitled to seek
payment and that the Department will consider both open and closed or
``completed'' cases in determining the claimant's eligibility for
payment.
Response. The statute does not distinguish between victims in open
and closed cases. The Department has revised the final rule to clarify
that victims of open or closed cases are eligible to seek payment under
the statute. Although victims in open or closed cases may request that
the Department apply for a court order of payment from the Reserve, the
requirements for eligibility for payment are established by statute,
and satisfaction of those requirements are determined by a court. One
of the requirements for eligibility is that the claimant is a victim of
a defendant who has been convicted of trafficking in child pornography.
3. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should make clear
that if the Department determines that it will recommend against
payment to a claimant, the Department: (1) will give the claimant at
least 14 days advance notice before informing the court of its
position; (2) will meet and confer with the claimant and give
meaningful consideration to the claimant's concerns; and (3) will, if
the Department maintains its position, inform the claimant that the
claimant can seek payment through the court independent of the
Department.
Response. The Department has revised the final rule to clarify that
if the Department determines that it will recommend against the court
ordering payment, the Department will make reasonable efforts to inform
the claimant (or the claimant's authorized representative, if
applicable) of that recommendation prior to providing that
recommendation to the court. However, due to uncertainty regarding the
number of individuals who will request that the Department apply for
payment, the number of claims that will be pending at any given moment,
and the Department's need to ensure that only those individuals
determined by a court to be eligible for payment under the statute
receive such payment, the Department cannot commit itself to acting
within a prescribed time limit. A claimant may submit a new application
to the Department to correct shortcomings in an earlier application, so
long as the new application contains material, additional information
supporting the claimant's eligibility for defined monetary assistance.
A claimant may also choose to present an application without proceeding
through the Department under this final rule.
4. Two commenters stated that the proposed rule should make clear
that payment can be paid to a claimant's representative. One of those
commenters further offered that the rule should state what documentary
evidence is required for the Department to deem a representative
``authorized.''
Response. The Department has revised the final rule to clarify that
payment can be made to a victim's authorized representative, where
appropriate. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(4) (``In the case of a victim who is
under 18 years of age, incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased, the
legal guardian of the victim or representative
[[Page 92798]]
of the victim's estate, another family member, or any other person
appointed as suitable by the court, may assume the crime victim's
rights under this section.''). The Department's website will provide
information concerning the types of documentation that will suffice to
prove that a representative is ``authorized.''
5. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should, at least
with respect to claims supported by a verified Federal judgment or
restitution order, provide for a ``presumption of eligibility''
regarding those claims.
Response. The statute establishes the criteria for eligibility and
does not include a presumption of eligibility. A court ultimately
determines whether a claimant is eligible.
6. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should make clear
``that criminal restitution or civil damages amounts collected before
submitting a claim . . . need not be deducted from the defined monetary
assistance remitted to the claimant.''
Response. The AVAA contains provisions outlining the relationship
between payment from the Reserve and payment in the form of
restitution. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)-(3). Section 2259(d)(2)(C)
specifies that the amount a victim received in defined monetary
assistance must be deducted from the total amount of losses
subsequently sought in restitution. The Department has added a
statement in the rule to make it clear that this statutory deduction
applies only to restitution sought after a victim receives defined
monetary assistance. The amount of restitution received need not be
deducted from the amount of defined monetary assistance. Once a victim
has collected restitution in an amount greater than the amount of
defined monetary assistance, however, the victim would be ineligible
for defined monetary assistance in any amount.
Regarding amounts received before the receipt of defined monetary
assistance, section 2259(d)(3) provides that ``[a] victim who has
collected payment of restitution pursuant to this section in an amount
greater than the amount [of defined monetary assistance] shall be
ineligible to receive defined monetary assistance.'' In preparing this
final rule, the Department determined that the discussion regarding
this provision in the preamble of the NPRM, see 88 FR at 36519, was
incorrect because it assumed that a victim who received restitution in
an amount equal to the amount of defined monetary assistance would be
ineligible to seek defined monetary assistance. This assumption is
incorrect because the statute provides for ineligibility only if the
victim has collected restitution in an amount ``greater than'' the
amount of defined monetary assistance. The Department clarifies here
that the examples in the preamble of the NPRM were inaccurate and that
a victim who has received restitution in an amount less than or equal
to the amount of defined monetary assistance may continue to seek the
full amount of defined monetary assistance.
7. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should clarify
``all'' potential reasons that the Department might cite as a basis to
decline a request for payment.
Response. The Department is committed to taking reasonable measures
to ensure that eligible claimants receive payment from the Reserve,
consistent with the statute. Because the Department is unable to
predict all possible requests that it might receive, the Department
declines to provide an exhaustive list of reasons why the Department
would decline a request to support an application for payment.
Moreover, only a court, not the Department, can order, or decline to
order, payment to a claimant.
8. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should make clear
that funds paid out from the Reserve ``ought not be considered taxable
income as a matter of public policy.''
Response. The Department does not have the authority to determine
what is considered taxable income. The Internal Revenue Code defines
income and provides specific items that are excluded from income. As a
general rule, unless a payment or benefit is specifically excluded, it
is considered income.
9. One commenter stated that claimants may have a difficult time
submitting the necessary documentation to the Department and
recommended that the rule ``give greater deference to delaying the
adjudication of requests than the returning of them.''
Response. The Department is committed to taking reasonable measures
to ensure that eligible victims receive payment from the Reserve,
consistent with the statute. In that respect, the Department is
committed to working with claimants to obtain missing information
before returning a request to them. The rule provides that the
Department will make ``reasonable efforts'' to request missing
information from a claimant and will make ``reasonable efforts'' to
identify a Federal criminal case in which a claimant's application
might be submitted. The Department under the rule accordingly has
discretion to determine, based on the claimant's circumstances, whether
to delay the return of an application to allow a claimant additional
time to submit documentation. If, however, after reasonable efforts,
the Department is unable to obtain the necessary information or
identify such a case, it cannot present the claimant's application to a
court and will return the request to the claimant. The Department does
not ``adjudicate'' the application in doing so. Neither this rule nor
the Department's return of a request limits the claimant's ability to
present an application to a court. Moreover, a claimant may submit a
new application to the Department to correct shortcomings in an earlier
application, so long as the new application contains material,
additional information supporting the claimant's eligibility for
defined monetary assistance.
10. One commenter recommended that the Department inform victims of
their right potentially to obtain compensation from ``their particular
state jurisdiction.''
Response. The Department declines to amend the rule to include
information about other sources of compensation because this rule
focuses on defined monetary assistance. The Department already provides
information about other victim compensation and assistance on its
website: https://ovc.ojp.gov/help-for-victims/help-in-your-state.
11. One commenter stated that the proposed rule should require the
creation of a system ``to notify potential claimants'' of their
``potential eligibility'' for payment.
Response. The Department declines to amend the rule to require
creation of a notification system. The AVAA does not provide for the
creation of such a system, and the Department does not possess the
information necessary to set up a system of that nature. For example,
the Department does not regularly track restitution payments and thus
would not know whether a claimant has already received more than the
amount of defined monetary assistance in restitution, which would make
the claimant ineligible under the statute. Moreover, a court, not the
Department, determines whether a claimant is eligible.
IV. Process To Obtain Defined Monetary Assistance From the Reserve
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B) and (C), a district court
determines whether a claimant is eligible to receive defined monetary
assistance, and, if it makes such a finding, orders payment of defined
monetary assistance to the
[[Page 92799]]
victim or the victim's authorized representative. The Act does not
specify any application process, but it does authorize the Attorney
General to administer the Reserve. Pursuant to this authorization, the
Department has established the process set forth in this final rule to
allow claimants to request that the Department facilitate obtainment of
the requisite district court order for the victim.
A. Request and Review Process
This final rule is designed to assist claimants in obtaining court
determinations of eligibility for payment of defined monetary
assistance from the Reserve. As discussed more fully below, defined
monetary assistance is distinct from court-ordered restitution.
Under the final rule, claimants may choose to request that the
Department present an application to a court for the court's
determination of eligibility for defined monetary assistance. The
Department will review the request and may follow up as needed to seek
additional information from the claimant or the claimant's authorized
representative in order to resolve any gaps in the claimant's
supporting information. It is the claimant's responsibility to present
evidence sufficient to establish a complete request, but in no instance
will the claimant be required to send--nor shall the claimant send--any
images or videos of child pornography. A request is complete where it
is supported by all information required by the claim form and by
responses to follow-up requests for information. The Department will
not present an application based on a request that is incomplete or
duplicative of a request that the Department has already received. The
Department will provide notice to a claimant if it decides not to
present the requested application to the court.
After the Department receives a claimant's request, and the
Department has exhausted reasonable efforts to obtain any needed
additional information from the claimant, the Department will use
reasonable efforts to identify a Federal child pornography trafficking
case in which a visual depiction of the claimant was involved. The
Department will consider any cases identified by the claimant as well
as any in which the Department has independent information linking the
claimant to a Federal child pornography trafficking case. If, based on
the information in the request, the claimant might be eligible for
defined monetary assistance as a result of more than one case, the
Department, in its sole discretion, will decide in which case it will
present the application.
It may take time for the Department to identify an appropriate case
to seek the required court order or to determine which of several
potential cases is the most appropriate. The Department will endeavor
to obtain the order in a timely manner.
B. Presentment of an Application for an Order Affirming Eligibility
Once the Department identifies an appropriate case, the Department
will present the claimant's application to the district court, which
may then issue an order affirming the claimant's eligibility for
payment. The mere presentment of an application to a court does not
imply that the Department has taken a position on the ultimate merits
of the application. The Department may or may not (as it deems
appropriate) present the application with an accompanying
recommendation--for example, the Department may include a
recommendation that the court grant the application where the
Department is persuaded that the statutory standard for payment is met.
Conversely, the Department may recommend that the court deny the
application if it is not persuaded that the statutory standard for
payment is met. If the Department determines that it will recommend
against the court ordering payment, the Department will make reasonable
efforts to inform the claimant (or the claimant's authorized
representative, if applicable) of such recommendation prior to any
presentation of the claimant's application to the court.
In the event that the Department disagrees with the court's
eligibility determination, the Department may decide to seek appellate
review of a ruling by a district court regarding the claimant's
eligibility for defined monetary assistance. The Department will make
reasonable efforts to consult with the claimant (or the claimant's
authorized representative, if applicable), on the issue of seeking
appellate review.
Depending on the basis for the court's ruling, the Department may
seek to present the claim underlying a denied application in another
case when it would be appropriate to do so. The Department will make
reasonable efforts to consult with the claimant (or the claimant's
authorized representative, if applicable) about any decision to present
a claim in another case.
If an application is denied by the district court, no appellate
review is taken or such appellate review is unsuccessful, and the claim
underlying an application is not presented in another case, the
claimant will not receive defined monetary assistance on the basis of
the claimant's request to the Department. If the claimant resubmits a
request to the Department with material, additional supporting
information, the Department may present that new application as
consistent with these regulations.
C. Payment
Once the court issues an order of payment, the Department will pay
the victim (or an authorized representative, if applicable) the defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve, as specified in the order.
Payment will typically be made via electronic funds transfer
facilitated by the Department of the Treasury, but the Department may
use other methods (e.g., physical check) depending on the circumstances
and technology or systems in place at the time of payment. Any money
received may be subject to Federal, State, or local taxes.
D. Limits on Attorney Representative Fees and Costs
There is no fee to submit a request to the Department when seeking
defined monetary assistance from the Reserve, and a claimant (or
authorized representative, if applicable) may submit a request for
defined monetary assistance without being represented by an attorney.
Nonetheless, a claimant (or authorized representative, if applicable)
may hire an attorney for this purpose; it will be entirely the
claimant's or authorized representative's decision whether to do so.
Under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(4), if the claimant or authorized
representative is represented by counsel, the attorney shall not
charge, receive, or collect, and the court may not approve, any payment
of fees and costs that in the aggregate exceeds 15 percent of any
defined monetary assistance paid under the Act on such claim. An
attorney who violates this provision is subject to fine, imprisonment
of up to one year, or both.
E. Privacy
Claimant submissions will not be made public and will be protected
and used only in accordance with applicable law, including the Privacy
Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a, 18 U.S.C.
3509(d)(1), and 18 U.S.C. 3771(a)(8), the Department will not disclose
to the public the names of the individuals who have requested defined
monetary assistance from the Reserve or the names of the deceased
claimants for whom defined monetary assistance is sought from the
Reserve, or their personally identifiable information, except as
necessary to
[[Page 92800]]
process a request or application or obtain a court order, to bring a
criminal or civil case against an individual for obtaining defined
monetary assistance by fraud, or pursuant to law or court order.
However, the fact that a victim has received defined monetary
assistance may be introduced in a Federal criminal proceeding where the
amount of the victim's losses is at issue.
In Department filings, the Department will protect the
confidentiality of names and other personally identifiable information,
including by submitting filings under seal, consistent with applicable
law, rules, and Department policies and procedures.
The process of providing a claimant with access to information held
by the Government will be subject to all applicable laws and
regulations, including the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and
subpart B of part 16 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
F. Victim Choice as to Defined Monetary Assistance Versus Restitution
Victims may choose to pursue restitution; to pursue defined
monetary assistance; or to pursue some combination of the two, whether
in the same case or in multiple cases, as appropriate. 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(3) provides that a victim who has previously collected
restitution in an amount greater than the amount of the defined
monetary assistance available under section 2259(d)(1)(D) is ineligible
to seek defined monetary assistance. A victim who has collected
restitution in an amount less than or equal to the amount of defined
monetary assistance (i.e., less than or equal to $35,000, adjusted for
inflation as of the date of application and as described above) is
eligible to seek defined monetary assistance. Although the statute does
not define the term ``collected,'' the word ``collected'' ordinarily
means amounts actually received, not merely amounts ordered but not yet
paid. See, e.g., Collect, Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/36263 (last visited July 22, 2024) (defining
``collect'' to mean ``to receive money''). There is often a lag between
order and payment. The amount collected is the aggregated payment from
all defendants. Once victims have collected an amount of restitution
greater than the amount of defined monetary assistance, they become
ineligible to obtain defined monetary assistance. For example, a
defendant may have been ordered to pay a victim $50,000 in restitution,
but the victim to date might have received only $5,000. That victim
would remain eligible for defined monetary assistance until the victim
collects more than $35,000 (inflation-adjusted) in restitution. If a
victim obtains orders for restitution, and then receives defined
monetary assistance, the amount of the defined monetary assistance must
be disclosed if the victim is later asked to provide information to a
court concerning the amount of recovery collected pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
2259. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(b)(2)(C), (d)(2)(C). Collection of forms of
monetary recovery other than restitution, such as from a civil suit,
does not affect a victim's eligibility for defined monetary assistance.
G. One-Time Defined Monetary Assistance Payment; Effect on Restitution
and Civil Remedies
Under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(A), a victim may receive a payment of
defined monetary assistance only once. Even after receiving such a
payment, a victim can, under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(B), decide to seek
restitution in court pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259. However, 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(2)(C) specifies that the amount a victim received in defined
monetary assistance must be deducted from the total amount of losses
subsequently sought in restitution. For example, if a victim obtains
defined monetary assistance in the amount of $35,000, and in a later
case pursues a restitution claim for $100,000, the maximum amount
recoverable on the latter claim would be $65,000.
Obtaining restitution or defined monetary assistance does not bar
victims from seeking a civil remedy, such as under 18 U.S.C. 2255,
although either may impact the amount the victims recover in a civil
suit.
H. Statutory Requirements for Eligibility
Defined monetary assistance is available to any eligible ``victim
of . . . trafficking in child pornography.'' 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(A).
The Act imposes three requirements for payment of defined monetary
assistance.
First, the claimant must appear in child pornography that has been
trafficked. ``Trafficking in child pornography'' is defined in 18
U.S.C. 2259(c)(3) by reference to statutes that prohibit advertising,
transporting, distributing, receiving, or possessing child pornography,
or accessing child pornography with intent to view it.
Second, at least one defendant must have been convicted in Federal
court of conduct (advertising, transporting, distributing, receiving,
or possessing child pornography, or accessing child pornography with
intent to view it) involving a visual depiction of the claimant. The
Act imposes no time limits on when the conviction must have occurred.
Any qualifying conviction serves as a basis for establishing a
claimant's eligibility for defined monetary assistance, so long as
there is sufficient evidence to obtain a court order as required under
the statute.
Sometimes the evidence may suggest that the defendant possessed
child pornography depicting a particular victim, but the defendant's
conviction was for a different crime. This could happen if child
pornography involving Victim A was found on a defendant's computer, but
the defendant was actually convicted of producing child pornography of
Victim B or distributing child pornography depicting Victim C. Victim A
would not be entitled to defined monetary assistance based upon that
case, though Victim A might be eligible in a different case.
A single conviction is sufficient to establish a claimant's
eligibility. There is no need under the Act to prove that the claimant
was a victim in more than one conviction for trafficking in child
pornography.
Third, the claimant must appear in a visual depiction that shows
``sexually explicit conduct'' as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2256(2)(A) and
must have been under the age of 18 at the time the visual depiction was
created.
Not all images of children being traded online meet this definition
of sexually explicit conduct. As one example, some individuals may
appear in imagery that is illegal under State law, but that is not
prohibited under Federal law. Because such images do not depict
``sexually explicit conduct'' as defined in section 2256, individuals
appearing in such material would not be eligible for defined monetary
assistance. In order to obtain defined monetary assistance, the
claimant would need to establish that a defendant was convicted of a
Federal offense involving the sexually explicit imagery.
A claimant need not be a United States citizen and need not reside
in the United States in order to be eligible for defined monetary
assistance.
I. Section-by-Section Overview of Final Rule
Section 81.51 sets forth the statutory basis for and the purpose of
the Reserve, as well as the statutory one-time payment amount.
Section 81.52 provides the definitions applicable to this subpart.
If a term is not defined in section 81.52, the term has the statutory
definition at 18 U.S.C. 2256, 2259, 2259A, or 2259B.
Section 81.53 provides certain requirements for eligibility for a
[[Page 92801]]
payment from the Reserve, including burden of proof and eligibility
exclusions, and specifies the effect of collecting defined monetary
assistance on later requests for restitution.
Section 81.54 provides a description for how persons may submit
requests to the Department for funds from the Reserve using an online
portal located on the Department's website for this program. Additional
information as to how to submit a request to the Department will be
available on the website.
Section 81.55 explains that the claimant must follow the directions
on the Department's website for this program to submit a request to the
Department for monetary assistance. Failure to submit all required
documentation would potentially result in delay of the adjudication or
return of the request by the Department.
Section 81.56 details the procedures to determine a personal
representative to request and receive funds on the claimant's behalf.
Section 81.57 provides the process by which requests submitted to
the Department for defined monetary assistance and court orders
requiring payment will be processed by the Department.
Section 81.58 sets forth signatures and certifications required for
a request to the Department to be considered complete.
Section 81.59 provides information related to privacy and
confidentiality of claimants' names and other personally identifiable
information during the course of the request process.
V. Regulatory Analyses
A. Administrative Procedure Act
This final rule concerns matters relating to ``benefits,'' 5 U.S.C.
553(a)(2), and also to ``rules of . . . agency procedure,'' 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(A). Therefore, it is exempt from the requirement of prior notice
and comment and from a delay in its effective date.
Nevertheless, the Department believed that comments from the public
would be useful in developing these regulatory changes. Consequently,
on June 5, 2023, 88 FR 36516, the Department published a notice of
proposed rulemaking and solicited public comments on this matter. The
comments received and the Department's responses thereto are set forth
in Part III above.
B. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14094 (Regulatory Review)
This final rule has been drafted and reviewed in accordance with
Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' section
1(b), Principles of Regulation; in accordance with Executive Order
13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' section 1(b),
General Principles of Regulation; and in accordance with Executive
Order 14094, ``Modernizing Regulatory Review''.
This final rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. The rule is primarily
procedural, dealing with the administrative process of submitting
requests to the Department for defined monetary assistance. The key
eligibility standards are set forth in the statute, and the Department
is not by this final rule making any changes to those standards.
As set forth in the cost-benefit analysis below, this final rule
will not have the economic effects described in section 3(f)(1) of
Executive Order 12866.
This regulation has no cost to State, local, or Tribal governments,
or to the private sector. The Child Pornography Victims Reserve is
funded by assessments paid by certain Federal offenders, as well as
gifts, bequests, or donations from private individuals, deposited into
the Crime Victims Fund in the United States Treasury and set aside in
the Reserve; those funds may not be obligated in an amount above $10
million in any given year. See 18 U.S.C. 2259B(a); 34 U.S.C.
20101(d)(6).
The cost to the Federal Government consists both of administrative
expenses and amounts distributed to victims. Both types of costs depend
on the number of claimants, including both prospective and retroactive
claimants.
Although spending is anticipated to be higher in the initial years
as a result of the number of potential retroactive claimants, the
program will not spend more than the statutory maximum of $10 million
each fiscal year. That is, even if claimants submit requests for
defined monetary assistance that, in the aggregate, exceed $10 million
in one year, the Department will spend no more than $10 million, and
will pay only those claims that can be satisfied from that amount. In
such a circumstance, claims will be paid based on the date on which
courts ordered the payments, with the earliest-ordered payments made
first. See 18 U.S.C. 2259B(b). Once the Department has paid out the
allotted $10 million dollars in any given fiscal year, the requests
that remain unpaid will roll over into the next fiscal year and will be
processed in the original order in which they were ordered. The
Department will also follow the same order-of-payment procedure in any
other situation in which the Reserve has insufficient funds to make all
of the payments ordered under section 2259(d).
The Department has assessed the benefits and costs anticipated from
this rulemaking and has considered whether there are reasonably
feasible alternatives to this rulemaking, including whether there are
reasonably viable non-regulatory actions that could be taken in lieu of
this rulemaking. The purpose of this rulemaking is to provide the legal
and administrative framework for defined monetary assistance to be
given to any individual (or an authorized representative of such
individual) who is determined by a Federal court to be a victim of
trafficking in child pornography as defined by 18 U.S.C. 2259(c) and
(d). The Department concludes that there are no viable non-regulatory
actions that it could take to implement the AVAA in a fair and
efficient manner.
C. Executive Order 13132
This regulation will not have substantial direct effects on the
States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government. Therefore, under Executive Order 13132,
the Department has determined that this regulation does not have
sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a
federalism impact statement.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department certifies that this rule will not have a significant
economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities. This
regulation pertains to defined monetary assistance for eligible
individuals who are depicted in child pornography that is the basis for
certain convictions under 18 U.S.C. chapter 110. The Reserve will
provide payment to such child pornography victims based on orders
obtained in U.S. district courts.
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This regulation will not result in the expenditure by State, local,
and Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of
$100,000,000 or more in any one year (adjusted annually for inflation),
and it will not significantly or uniquely affect small governments.
Therefore, no actions were deemed necessary under the provisions of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.
[[Page 92802]]
F. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This final rule implements 18 U.S.C. 2259, 2259A, 2259B, and 34
U.S.C. 20101(d), which establish the Reserve and define eligibility for
payments from the Reserve. In order to evaluate requests and provide
defined monetary assistance, the Department must collect certain
information from individuals who are depicted in child pornography that
is the basis for certain convictions under 18 U.S.C. chapter 110, or
from their authorized representatives. Accordingly, the Department's
Executive Office for United States Attorneys will submit an information
collection request for review and clearance in accordance with the
procedures of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
G. Privacy Act of 1974
The Department will publish a notice of a new Privacy Act system of
records upon publication of the final rule, which will become effective
upon publication, subject to a 30-day comment period for the routine
uses claimed in the notice. In the interim, disclosures necessary to
process requests will be made only with the prior written consent of
claimants or as otherwise authorized under 5 U.S.C. 552a(b).
H. Severability
It is the Department's intent that if any provision of this rule is
held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any
person or circumstance, the remainder of the provision or rule shall be
workable and construed so as to give it the maximum effect permitted by
law, unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or
unenforceability, in which event such provision shall be deemed
severable from this part and shall not affect the remainder thereof or
the application of such provision to other persons not similarly
situated or to other, dissimilar circumstances.
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 81
Child abuse, Child pornography, Victims, Restitution, Benefits.
By the authority vested in the Attorney General under 5 U.S.C. 301
and 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, and for the reasons stated in the preamble, 28
CFR part 81 is amended as follows:
PART 81--CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING DESIGNATIONS
AND PROCEDURES, AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS RESERVE
0
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; 42 U.S.C. 13031, 13032.
0
2. Revise the heading for part 81 to read as set forth above.
Sec. Sec. 81.1 through 81.5 [Designated as Subpart A]
0
3. Designate Sec. Sec. 81.1 through 81.5 as subpart A.
0
4. Add a heading for newly designated subpart A to read as follows:
Subpart A--Child Abuse and Child Pornography Reporting Designations
and Procedures
Sec. Sec. 81.14 through 81.50 [Added and Reserved]
0
5. Amend subpart B by adding and reserving Sec. Sec. 81.14 through
81.50.
0
6. Add subpart C to read as follows:
Subpart C--Child Pornography Victims Reserve
Sec.
81.51 Child Pornography Victims Reserve.
81.52 Definitions.
81.53 Eligibility.
81.54 Submission of requests to the Department.
81.55 Supporting information.
81.56 Procedures for determining the personal representative of an
estate.
81.57 Request and order processing.
81.58 Signatures and certifications.
81.59 Privacy.
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 2259, 2259A, 2259B; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510; 34
U.S.C. 20101(d), 20341.
Sec. 81.51 Child Pornography Victims Reserve.
The Child Pornography Victims Reserve (``Reserve'') was established
on December 7, 2018, to provide a source of defined monetary assistance
for eligible victims of trafficking in child pornography, pursuant to
18 U.S.C. 2259(d). Pursuant to the authority of the Department of
Justice (``the Department'') to administer the Reserve, the Department
will--
(a) Accept a request that the Department seek a court order for a
determination of eligibility for defined monetary assistance from a
claimant who chooses to proceed through the Department;
(b) Process such request and use reasonable efforts to follow up
with such claimant to obtain information sufficient for a court to
determine the claimant's eligibility for defined monetary assistance;
(c) Upon confirming that the request to the Department is complete
and not duplicative of a previously received request, use reasonable
efforts to identify a Federal child pornography trafficking case in
which an image of the identified victim appears and in which the
Department may present an application for court determination of the
claimant's eligibility; and
(d) Pay a claimant (or an authorized representative, if applicable)
pursuant to a Federal court order determining that such claimant is
eligible to receive defined monetary assistance.
Sec. 81.52 Definitions.
(a) If a term is not defined in this section, the statutory
definition at 18 U.S.C. 2256, 2259, 2259A, or 2259B applies to the
submission and processing of requests to the Department.
(b) Authorized representative means an attorney or legal guardian
(for claimants under age 18, incompetent, or incapacitated) of a
claimant, the personal representative of a deceased claimant's estate,
any other person appointed as a representative of a claimant by a
Federal court pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(4), or a personal
representative designated by the claimant to act on the claimant's
behalf.
(c) Claimant means the person who claims to be a victim of
trafficking in child pornography and to be eligible for the defined
monetary assistance at 18 U.S.C. 2259(d).
(d) Reserve means the Child Pornography Victims Reserve set forth
in 34 U.S.C. 20101(d)(6). The Department may also refer to the Reserve
as the Defined Monetary Assistance Victims Reserve.
(e) Victim or victim of trafficking in child pornography means a
person whom a Federal court has determined, under 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(B), to be a victim of trafficking in child pornography.
Sec. 81.53 Eligibility.
(a) Presentment of claims for payment to Federal courts. If a
claimant chooses to submit a request to the Department, the Department
shall review a properly submitted request and, as necessary, ask the
claimant (or the claimant's authorized representative, if applicable)
for additional information to support the request. Once the Department
confirms the request is complete and not duplicative of a previously
received request, the Department will use reasonable efforts to find an
appropriate
[[Page 92803]]
case in which to present the claim by means of an application for an
order of payment of defined monetary assistance in a Federal court. An
appropriate case may be an open or closed case. If the Department is
unable to locate an appropriate case, it will notify the claimant and
may decline to present the claim. If the Department presents the
claimant's application to a court, the Department may include a
recommendation as to whether the court should grant or deny the
application.
(b) Determination by a court. A Federal court will make the
determination, under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(B), as to whether a claimant
is entitled to defined monetary assistance from the Reserve and, if so,
shall order payment in the amount specified in 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(1)(D).
This amount is $35,000 as adjusted for inflation from December 7, 2018,
based on the date of the court's order, in accordance with 18 U.S.C.
2259(d)(1)(D).
(c) Payment. The Department shall pay to the victim (or the
victim's authorized representative, if applicable) from the Reserve the
defined monetary assistance set forth in 18 U.S.C. 2259, in accordance
with the applicable Federal court order and consistent with 18 U.S.C.
2259B(b).
(d) Exclusions. (1) A victim may obtain defined monetary assistance
under 18 U.S.C. 2259(d) only once. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(A).
(2) In no event shall an individual who is convicted of an act
described in 18 U.S.C. chapter 110, with respect to the victim, receive
any defined monetary assistance from the Reserve on behalf of the
victim. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(c)(4).
(3) Claimants who have collected restitution payments in excess of
$35,000 (as adjusted for inflation from December 7, 2018) pursuant to
18 U.S.C. 2259 are not eligible to receive defined monetary assistance
under this program. See 18 U.S.C. 2259(d)(3).
(e) Effect on restitution. If a victim has received defined
monetary assistance and, after receiving that defined monetary
assistance, seeks restitution, the amount the victim received in
defined monetary assistance must be deducted when determining the full
amount of the victim's losses for purposes of restitution. See 18
U.S.C. 2259(d)(2)(C).
Sec. 81.54 Submission of requests to the Department.
(a) Requests submitted to the Department must be submitted in the
form and manner, and supported by documentation, specified from time to
time by the Department. The Department's website will contain
directions on how to access the claims system for defined monetary
assistance.
(b) Requests may be submitted to the Department at any time. The
Department may decline to present to a court any application based on a
request that duplicates a previously received request. A request
duplicates a previously received request if it is submitted by or in
connection with the same claimant and is premised on the same conduct
as the previously received request. If a claimant obtains new
information relevant to a claim after submitting a request, the
claimant should amend that request rather than submitting a new
request. If the Department has already returned the request to the
claimant, the claimant may submit a new request, so long as such
request contains material, additional information supporting the
claimant's eligibility for defined monetary assistance.
(c) If a claimant is represented by an authorized representative,
the request to the Department and any supporting information may be
submitted to the Department by that authorized representative. The
authorized representative must submit a separate request on behalf of
each represented claimant.
Sec. 81.55 Supporting information.
(a) As part of a request to the Department, the claimant should
submit information as instructed by the Department. The Department's
website will provide instruction about what information is required in
support of a claim. Failure to submit all required information may
result in delay or a decision by the Department not to present the
claimant's application to a court.
(b) All information supporting the request should be updated as
necessary while the request to the Department is pending, including the
amounts of any restitution collected, address changes, changes to
information needed to process payment to the claimant, and any other
pertinent information that may be relevant to the request.
(c) To avoid a potential violation of Federal law, claimants (or
authorized representatives, if applicable) shall not send images or
videos of child pornography when providing supporting information.
Sec. 81.56 Procedures for determining the personal representative of
an estate.
(a) In general. For any request to the Department by the estate of
a deceased claimant, the personal representative of the estate, who
will be the authorized representative for purposes of defined monetary
assistance from the Reserve, shall be determined as follows:
(1) First preference will be given to an individual appointed by a
court of competent jurisdiction as the personal representative of the
deceased claimant or as the executor or administrator of the deceased
claimant's will or estate.
(2) In the event that no personal representative or executor or
administrator has been appointed by any court of competent
jurisdiction, and such issue is not the subject of pending litigation
or other dispute, the next preferred personal representative for
purposes of defined monetary assistance from the Reserve will be the
person named by the deceased claimant in the deceased claimant's will
as the executor or administrator of the deceased claimant's estate.
(3) In the event that no will exists, the next preference for
personal representative for purposes of defined monetary assistance
from the Reserve will be the first person in the line of succession for
inheritance established by the laws of the deceased claimant's domicile
governing intestacy. In the case where State law provides for two or
more persons to inherit in equal shares (e.g., parents or siblings),
the defined monetary assistance payment will be split accordingly.
(4) In the event that none of the individuals described in
paragraphs (a)(1) through (3) of this section are available to serve as
personal representative, any other person may seek to be appointed by a
court of competent jurisdiction as the personal representative for
purposes of defined monetary assistance from the Reserve. Upon
appointment, that person will serve as personal representative.
(b) Notice to beneficiaries. (1) Any purported personal
representative must, before submitting a request to the Department,
provide written notice of the intent to submit a request and the
procedures in paragraph (c) of this section to object to such status as
personal representative to the immediate family of the deceased
claimant; to the executor, administrator, and beneficiaries of the
deceased claimant's will; and to any other persons who may reasonably
be expected to assert an interest in an award or to have a cause of
action to recover damages relating to the wrongful death of the
deceased claimant.
(2) Personal delivery or transmission by certified mail, return
receipt requested, shall be deemed sufficient notice under this
subpart. The
[[Page 92804]]
purported personal representative must certify that such notice (or
other notice that the Department deems appropriate) has been given.
(c) Objections to personal representatives. Objections to the
authority of an individual to file as the personal representative of a
deceased claimant may be submitted to the Department, as instructed on
the Department's website for this program, by parties who assert a
financial interest in the award. Any such objection must be submitted
within 30 days following receipt of notice by the personal
representative as defined under this section. If timely submitted, such
objections shall be treated as evidence of a ``dispute'' under
paragraph (d) of this section.
(d) Disputes as to the identity of the personal representative. The
Department will not, and shall not be required to, arbitrate, litigate,
or otherwise resolve any dispute as to the identity of the personal
representative. In the event of a dispute over the appropriate personal
representative, the Department may suspend or return a request to the
claimant without prejudice to its later resubmission and may withhold
any payment until the dispute is resolved either by agreement of the
disputing parties or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Alternatively, the disputing parties may agree in writing to the
identity of a personal representative to act on their behalf, who may
seek and accept defined monetary assistance from the Reserve while the
disputing parties work to settle their dispute.
Sec. 81.57 Request and order processing.
(a) Upon receipt of a request to the Department, the Department
will review it and may follow up with the claimant (or authorized
representative, if applicable) to resolve any gaps in the request's
supporting information.
(b) The Department will then use reasonable efforts to identify an
open or closed Federal criminal case involving the claimant to present
the claimant's application (with supporting information, as
appropriate) for a court to determine the claimant's eligibility to
receive defined monetary assistance. If the Department is unable to
locate such a case, it will notify the claimant (or the claimant's
authorized representative, if applicable). If the Department presents
the claimant's application to a court, in its sole discretion, the
Department may or may not present the claim with an accompanying
recommendation that the court order payment or not. If the Department
determines that it will recommend against the court ordering payment,
the Department will make reasonable efforts to inform the claimant (or
the claimant's authorized representative, if applicable) of such
recommendation prior to any presentation of the application to the
court.
(c) If a court issues an order requiring payment to any claimant,
the Department will process payment of defined monetary assistance to
the claimant or, where appropriate, to the claimant's authorized
representative, in accordance with the order in the amount specified
therein, upon receipt of the order and the requisite information from
the claimant following instructions on the Department's website for
this program. Failure to submit all required information to the
Department may result in delay of payment.
(d) If the court issues an order denying eligibility based on an
application submitted by the Department, the Department will notify the
claimant (or the claimant's authorized representative, if applicable).
The Department may decide to seek appellate review of a ruling by a
district court regarding a claimant's eligibility for defined monetary
assistance. The Department will make reasonable efforts to consult with
the claimant (or the claimant's authorized representative, if
applicable) on the issue of appellate review.
Sec. 81.58 Signatures and certifications.
A request to the Department will be deemed submitted when it is
submitted online at the Department's website for this program; or, as
provided in accordance with Sec. 81.54, consistent with the
instructions on the claim form. By submitting the request, the claimant
(or, if submitted by an authorized representative, the authorized
representative) acknowledges and certifies as to each of the following:
(a) Veracity of request. The claimant certifies, under oath,
subject to penalty of perjury or in a manner that meets the
requirements of 28 U.S.C. 1746, that the information provided in the
request and any documents submitted in support of the request are true
and accurate to the best of the claimant's knowledge, and the claimant
agrees that any defined monetary assistance paid from the Reserve is
expressly conditioned upon the truthfulness and accuracy of the
information and documentation submitted in support of the request.
Where a claimant is represented by an authorized representative, that
representative must have authority to certify the request on behalf of
the claimant.
(b) Potential criminal penalties. The claimant understands that
false statements or claims made in connection with the request may
result in fines, imprisonment, and any other remedy available by law to
the Federal Government, including fines and imprisonment as provided in
18 U.S.C. 1001 and treble damages and civil penalties under the False
Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729, et seq. Requests that appear to be
potentially fraudulent or to contain false information may be forwarded
to Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities for possible
investigation and prosecution.
(c) Limitation on attorney fees. If a claimant is represented by
counsel, no attorney shall charge, receive, or collect any payment of
fees and costs that in the aggregate exceeds 15 percent of any defined
monetary assistance paid on such application. An attorney who violates
this provision is subject to fine, imprisonment of up to one year, or
both.
Sec. 81.59 Privacy.
The Department will not disclose to the public the names of the
claimants (or their authorized representatives, if applicable) who have
requested defined monetary assistance from the Reserve under this
program, or their other personally identifiable information, except as
necessary to process a request or application or pursuant to law or
court order.
Dated: November 8, 2024.
Merrick B. Garland,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 2024-26679 Filed 11-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-14-P