Victim Surcharge -- Judges Recognize Reality

Oh dear, I am going to support weak liberal judges and disrespect victims' rights.

Well, not really, but it may look like that, at least until you read this piece in full.

Today's Pembroke Daily Observer repeats a complaint made repeated in the Sun Media chain that judges are not enforcing the victim surcharge on criminals, thereby failing to ensure a proper fund for victims exists.

The Observer says:

To understand the contempt in which crime victims are held by our justice system, one need only look at the ill-fated history of the Federal Victim Surcharge.

Passed in 1988 and toughened in 1999 when the surcharge was, in theory, made mandatory in order to compel criminals to compensate victims, the surcharge has been ignored by judges and poorly implemented by the provinces.

Meanwhile, federal politicians appear to have forgotten about the law as soon as they passed it.

As a result, tens of millions of dollars in restitution that could have gone to crime victims over the past 20 years, paid for by the criminals who harmed them, have been forfeited, an outrage which continues today.

[Link: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1127849 ]

This all sounds very convincing until you look at the realities involved.

One of the reasons fines are not (in general) a good penalty is because most people going to jail have either no money, or, if they have any it is going to their immediate family for basic needs (and if it doesn't go to the families they will be on welfare too).

An extra fine on crime, for the benefit of victims, sounds great but in fact it is a political gesture towards victims of crime. It costs the government nothing and it looks like a significant new resource for victims is created. As a political statement, it uses victims as a prop to demonstrate being "tough on crime".

In fact, collecting the surcharge would be impossible and any funds that were obtained would be more than spent on collection costs.

So the judges waiving the surcharge are not giving criminals a break -- they are recognizing the realities before them.

What is really needed is government programs (yes, tax money is needed) that address victims needs and changes in the basic structure of the criminal system (and some of this has been done -- victim impact statements are a start) to make victims a part of the process and not simply meddling outsiders.