미국의 범죄피해자보상제도에 관한 고찰

A Study on Victim Compensation in the United States

This article studies victim compensation in the United Sttes. In the late 1950s the question of compensation surfaced in American law journals. Initially, distinguished scholars raised many objections to the idea of goverment aid to crime victims. Victims can try to recover their financial losses in several different ways. Restitution patments directly from the offender's earnings seem to be a fair and appropriate methode of reimbursement and may provide a solid foundation for eventual reconciliation. Restitution may be viewed as an additional penalty but also as a way to sensitize and rehabilitate lawbreakers. Unfortunately, many victims never receive any money because their offenders are not caught, convicted, and sentenced to restitution, or are unable or unwilling to earn and hand over sufficient funds. Victim compensation in the United States funds have been set up in most states since the 1960s, although they initially met considerable political resistance. Many state funds do not have enough money from penalty assessments and the general treasury to quickly and adequately reimburse crime victims.