Abstract
Despite major advancements in the legal protection of human rights, dis satisfaction with the law and with the administration of justice has reached a new high. A primary cause of this is the criminal law, which has little deterrent capacity, imposes unequal sentences on the poor and the nonpoor, and disregards the problems of the victims of crime. Instead, the wrongdoer should be made to compensate the victim for personal injury or property loss. The author proposes a possible restitution program and argues that this would serve the victim-who is often unable to bear the costs of personal injury, incapacitation, loss of income, and property loss -and might help in deterring and rehabilitating the offender. Also dis cussed are mandatory fines for white collar crimes, state-sponsored em ployment programs for street criminals, and compulsory education in prison for functionally illiterate street criminals. The author recommends that fines for federal crimes be contributed to state compensation funds.
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