Restitution: Exploring Disparities and Potentials

• Date: 01 August 2014
• Author: Susan Sarnoff
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12104
• Published date: 01 August 2014

POLICY ESSAY

PAYING RESTITUTION

Restitution

Exploring Disparities and Potentials

Susan Sarno

MSW, DSW, retired

Ruback, Gladfelter, and Lantz’s (2014, this issue) study clearly demonstrates that

many more of the offenders ordered to pay restitution can and will pay more

consistently if they can be both encouraged and educated about doing so. However,

the study’s own background notes many troubling factors:

1. Victims are often left unaware of the availability of restitution.

2. The possibility of imposing of fees and fines against offenders creates perverse disincen-

tives to provide restitution to victims.

3. Judges might be using restitution in arbitrary and even biased ways and, conversely,

might be assessing indigence similarly.

These factors suggest that restitution could be used far more effectively,extensively, and

fairly not only by enforcing payment compliance but also by altering policies and practices

affecting restitution.

Restitution regained popularity during the last century primarily as an alternative

sentence in lieu of prison time (McGillis, 1986). It continues to be used this way to some

extent but only to privileged female, White, educated, lawyered offenders, regardless of the

crimes they commit (Ruback, 2002). Of course, most offenders are never caught or linked

to the majority of the crimes they commit (McGillis, 1986). Most of those offenders who

are caught are never required to pay restitution because of vagaries in state laws, victims’

lack of awareness of its availability,and determinations of indigence on the par t of offenders

(Lurigio and Davis, 1990).

Criminal justice agencies also have perverse incentives to limit the use of restitution

(Beckett and Harris, 2011). Over the past several “law-and-order” decades, the govern-

ment has increasingly assessed the costs of prosecuting cases and overseeing incarceration,

Direct correspondence to Susan Sarnoff (e-mail: sarnoff@ohio.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12104 C2014 American Society of Criminology 437

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 13 rIssue 3