Restitution

Over the past decade, dozens of state and local jurisdictions across the country and political spectrum have ended fines and fees in juvenile courts. One monetary sanction, however, is routinely left out of reform efforts: victim restitution. Unlike most fines and fees, youth restitution—paid to victims or harmed parties for economic loss or injury—continues to enjoy wide support, under the assumption that it promotes youth rehabilitation,...

This Piece provides a novel framework guiding adjudication in cases of mistakes, such as unintended money transfers. We draw on Guido Calabresi’s seminal work, The Costs of Accidents, to introduce a parallel framework for mistakes and detail its operation and embodied policy considerations. We explain that mistakes, unlike accidents, can be socially harmless. When a mistake is harmless, the law acts to protect the mistaken party, thereby...