In United States v. Randall, --- F.4th ---, No. 20-10339 (9th Cir. 2022), the Court affirmed a sentence and special assessment for distributing and receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A.
The Court considered two questions:
First, USSG § 2G2.2(b)(3)(B) provides for a five-level enhancement for offenders who distribute child pornography “in exchange for any valuable consideration.” The question was whether the offender must actually receive the “valuable consideration.”
Second, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3014(a), mandates a $5,000 special assessment for defendants convicted of certain sex crime offenses. The Court considered whether the $5,000 assessment attaches to each offense of conviction or whether the statute permits only a single assessment of $5,000 for each defendant per case.
The Court held: "(1) that § 2G2.2(b)(3)(B) does not require the defendant to receive any “valuable consideration”; and (2) that § 3014(a) requires a $5,000 fine per offense."
Judge Wardlaw dissented as to the second point.
Finally, here is a good line that can be used in other circumstances: "when Congress adopts a phrase with a settled judicial interpretation, absent some indication to the contrary, we presume that Congress chose to give the phrase its established meaning."
