The report, released Tuesday, comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to consider restitution a criminal punishment or civil compensation. The criminal defense lawyers group, along with Families Against Mandatory Minimums, filed an amicus brief in June arguing that it was a punishment.
Defendants with unpaid restitution face restrictions that can make it harder to earn money to reintegrate into society and pay down the debt, the report said. For example, some could face driver's license restrictions or suspensions, be barred from obtaining or renewing some professional licenses, or have their wages garnished. And failure to repay restitution can often result in re-incarceration, the report said.
"Victims are not getting paid as promised, as illustrated by the billions of dollars of uncollected and uncollectible debt, and those with restitution orders remain enmeshed in the criminal legal system solely due to their failure to pay off that debt," said the report, authored by Cortney Lollar, faculty director for the Georgia State University College of Law's Center for Access to Justice. "Those with restitution orders are in a Sisyphean struggle to satisfy their court debt while also trying to cover the payments necessary for basic human needs, especially as they age."
The U.S. Supreme Court case, Ellingburg v. U.S.
, centers on Holsey Ellingburg Jr., who was convicted of armed robbery in 1996. A judge sentenced Ellingburg to 26 years in prison and ordered him to pay $7,567 in restitution.He paid about $2,000 in restitution and was released from prison in 2022, but the government said he still owes $13,476 as a result of compounding interest on his original restitution amount. The government claims he must pay restitution for 20 years after his release from prison under the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act of 1996's extended liability period.
Ellingburg, meanwhile, contends the compounding interest unconstitutionally increases his punishment.
Tuesday's report included the story of a man serving a 20-year sentence who agreed to pay $25 in restitution every three months. He makes "nominal money" from his work in a prison mess hall and occasionally receives $50 payments from his family, according to the report.
The prisoner fell 60 cents short of one of his $25 payments and, as a result, his prison wages were reduced to $5 per month. He asked the court to delay his repayment until after his release, but the court refused, the report said.
The report proposed reforms for the criminal restitution system, such as: Courts should hold restitution hearings separate from sentencing hearings; judges should have to take a defendant's financial resources and ability to pay into account; and defendants should be required to reimburse only actual losses without accrued interest.
The report also calls for officials to track data on criminal restitution, and the demographic details of those paying it and the victims receiving it.
--Additional reporting by Elizabeth Daley. Editing by Linda Voorhis.