Criminals and compensation

[tcprowling]

Should convicted criminals be made to pay compensation to thier victims?
Here in Australia the only course of compensation the victims of crime have is through a Govt. run system called victims of crime. the crims them selves do thier time then walk scot free, while their victims are left to suffer for years afterwards. One suggestion would be the same as what is done for our uni students. Where they are allowed to study but after qualifying and starting work their fees are repay by deducting it from their wages. Maybe convicted criminals could be subjected to the same After their sentences are complete and they become employed or earning money, even welfare money could be deducted from them to repay a central fund set up to compensate the victims of crime? any thoughts?

[PureX]

Originally Posted by tcprowling

Should convicted criminals be made to pay compensation to thier victims?

No. It would set up conditions for "convicting for profit". If people feel the need to be compensated for criminal activity, they should purchase insurance covering such possible activity. Also, the victims can already sue for damages in civil court, apart from the criminal trial and conviction (in the U.S.).

Originally Posted by tcprowling

Here in Australia the only course of compensation the victims of crime have is through a Govt. run system called victims of crime. the crims them selves do thier time then walk scot free, while their victims are left to suffer for years afterwards. One suggestion would be the same as what is done for our uni students. Where they are allowed to study but after qualifying and starting work their fees are repay by deducting it from their wages. Maybe convicted criminals could be subjected to the same After their sentences are complete and they become employed or earning money, even welfare money could be deducted from them to repay a central fund set up to compensate the victims of crime? any thoughts?

I suspect that in Australia that can already happen, if the victims sue the criminal in civil court and win, as in the U.S.,. What you are suggesting I think is wrong, because it's based on a false assumption: that the victims of crime can receive just compensation. In the case of property crimes, I think this is so, but in the case of violent assault, there is no way of putting that right, again. And thinking that money will somehow do so is, I believe, dangerous and unhealthy.

Sooner or later we human beings are going to have to learn the value of forgiveness, and stop relying on vengeance as our responce to everything in life that we don't like or agree with. And while we're at it, it might also be a good idea to learn to accept the inevitability of accidents. Somehow, we seem to have decided that these should not exist, and that any misfortune that occurs must have a "perpetraitor" that we can blame and punish.

[ladyhawke]

Should convicted criminals be made to pay compensation to thier victims

?

No i dont think so,money does'nt undo damage or hurt and as someone who has had deal with this i felt compensation would tie me more to my assailant,justice is whats needed the courts are SUPPOSED to this for us.To me it would feel like dirty money.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by tcprowling

Should convicted criminals be made to pay compensation to thier victims?

I think that it's a marvellous idea. If it's workable, it sounds good to me. We already have lawsuits for this kind of thing, but it would be nice not to hassel with extra lawyer fees if the compensation ruling could be handed down as part of the normal sentencing process.

Here in Australia the only course of compensation the victims of crime have is through a Govt. run system called victims of crime. the crims them selves do thier time then walk scot free, while their victims are left to suffer for years afterwards. One suggestion would be the same as what is done for our uni students. Where they are allowed to study but after qualifying and starting work their fees are repay by deducting it from their wages. Maybe convicted criminals could be subjected to the same After their sentences are complete and they become employed or earning money, even welfare money could be deducted from them to repay a central fund set up to compensate the victims of crime? any thoughts?

Perhaps this could work. The only catch is that low-wage earners wouldn't really be able to compensate for their crimes, and their lives would be even more miserable, possibly leading to more crimes.

The best compensation IMO is forced manual labor camps. If we really want something as a society from criminals, we can put them to work in low-wage menial tasks. By working the inmates, society has compensation and the inmates learn hard work. If they do a good job, we can recommend them to civilian employers when they get out.