Restitution
Restitution is a legal concept in the United States where offenders are required to compensate victims for the harm caused by their crimes. This mechanism has gained prominence over recent decades and is now mandated in many states, making it a common sanction in both adult and juvenile justice systems. Restitution can take various forms, including monetary payments to victims for expenses such as medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. Alternatively, offenders may fulfill their obligations through victim service restitution, where they perform direct services for victims, or through community service, which involves contributing time to societal projects.
These restitution programs can serve as a punishment or as a condition of probation, offering benefits over traditional incarceration by reducing costs for taxpayers and aiding offenders in reintegrating into society. They also provide victims with a sense of validation for their suffering. While research indicates that restitution programs often have higher success rates compared to other punitive measures, there are ongoing concerns regarding the potential for reoffending. Overall, restitution reflects a growing trend toward restorative justice, aiming to balance accountability for offenders with support for victims.
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Restitution
SIGNIFICANCE: The use of restitution is increasing and in many states is now a mandatory sanction that courts are required, by law, to impose on offenders.
Until the late decades of the twentieth century, few formal restitution programs existed in the United States. Now, all US states have restitution programs and every state gives its courts the right to order restitution to be paid by offenders. Within the United States, restitution is used as a form of punishment both in the adult criminal justice system and juvenile justice system. In both cases, restitution is often part of offenders’ terms of probation. Restitution is also sometimes used as an alternative form of punishment, in place of incarceration.
One type of restitution program requires offenders to pay monetary damages directly to victims. Monetary restitution may be ordered to cover such things as medical expenses, lost wages, counseling costs, loss of property, and funeral expenses resulting from the offenders’ crimes. Instead of repaying the victims themselves with money, victim service restitution requires offenders to perform services for the victims of their crimes. Another type of restitution, community service, usually requires offenders to pay society back by engaging in community-service projects. Instead of being sentenced into the prison or jail system, offenders may be required to perform services in nursing homes, parks, hospitals, libraries, schools, animal shelters, or other public institutions. Judges may impose whatever number of service hours they regard as commensurate with the crimes committed. All these forms of restitution may be ordered for crimes against property, such as vandalism, or violent crimes against persons, such as assault.
As both a sole punishment and a condition of one’s probation, restitution provides several advantages over other forms of punishment. Restitution programs save the taxpayers millions of dollars, as offenders are not placed in secure facilities, such as prisons, jails, or halfway houses. Secondly, these programs provide offenders with fresh chances to become productive citizens without suffering the negative effects of incarceration. Most important, restitution programs provide victims and communities with both tangible benefits and feelings of vindication for the harm they suffer.
Research has found that restitution programs for both juveniles and adults have higher success rates than other alternative forms of punishment. However, those who have completed restitution programs may not necessarily stay away from future contact with law-enforcement officials. Thus, while the majority of offenders complete their court-ordered restitution programs, the recidivism effects of these programs remain in doubt.
Bibliography
Allen, Harry E., Clifford E. Simonsen, and Edward J. Latessa. Corrections in America: An Introduction. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, 2004.
"Restitution." Victim Connect Resource Center, victimconnect.org/restitution/. Accessed 10 July 2024.
"Restitution Process." US Department of Justice, 10 Oct. 2023, www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-vns/restitution-process. Accessed 10 July 2024.
Senna, Joseph, and Larry J. Siegel. Essentials of Criminal Justice. 3d ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2001.
Siegel, Larry J. Juvenile Delinquency: The Core. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2002.