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Criminal Restitution: A Survey of Its Past History and an Analysis of Its Present Usefulness

Laster, R. E
June 4, 2015

Source: (1970) University of Richmond Law Review 5(1):71-98.

This article discuses the history and contemporary use of criminal restitution. Some of the advantages in a system of restitution are considered. The present use of restitution as a condition of probation is not very effective since it is geared more to compensating the injured party rather than to rehabilitating the criminal. To cure this inequity a program of creative restitution should be implemented with room for penalties to compensate injured parties, but no place for punishment. Criminal restitution, focusing on both the needs of the criminal and the victim, would go a long way toward balancing the scales of the present criminal justice system.

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