Restitution in Brooklyn and Bronx Criminal Courts - A Victim-Oriented Approach (From Victims, Offenders, and Alternative Sanctions, P 121-129, 1980, Joe Hudson and Burt Galaway, ed. - See NCJ-74113)

• NCJ Number: 74121
• Author(s): D W Zalichin; S Y Schraga; J Chytilo
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay describes two victim-oriented restitution programs in New York City sponsored by a nonprofit cooperation, the Victim Services Agency (VSA), in cooperation with the Brooklyn and Bronx criminal courts.

Abstract

The authors distinguish between offender-oriented restitution sentences (e.g., a fine payable to the court) and a court-ordered sentence of monetary restitution to the victim. The two VSA-operated restitution programs were established on the premise that restitution is a service to the victim. Overcoming judicial reluctance to sentencing a defendant to financial restitution, a reluctance caused by the administrative complexities involved in its implementation, procedures were developed for the administration of court-based restitution programs, which were agreed to by the courts, the district attorney's offices, and the Legal Aid Society. The two programs were evaluated using such techniques as regression analysis; interviews with complainants, defendants, judges, and attorneys; and a review of data from the restitution program files, along with supplementary data from the New York Criminal Justice Agency and the VSA computer information system. Evaluation variables included program caseloads, program impacts, and defendant characteristics. On the basis of this preliminary evaluation, it appears that the VSA restitution program serves the needs of victims, while providing an important administrative service to the courts. No references are furnished.