Increases the amount of restitution or reparation allowed to be required by the court in the case of a conviction for a felony

Title of bill

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the amount of restitution payable to victims of felonies

Purpose

To increase the amount of restitution or reparation a court may award the victim of a felony.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill increases the amount of restitution or reparation available to the victim of a felony from $15,000 to $100,000.

Section 2 of the bill establishes the effective date of this act.

Existing law

Currently, a court may not award, for restitution or reparation, more than $15,000 to the victim of a felony. There is, however, an exception to this provision if the restitution consists of an order directing the return of money or reimbursement for medical expenses.

Justification

Victims of serious crimes often have a difficult time financially, physically, or mentally moving on with their lives. In many cases, courts can offer restitution. This generally helps crime victims to put their lives back together.

Unfortunately, the restitution limit of $15,000 that is found in section 60.27(5)(a) of the Penal Law is too low to make a difference to some crime victims. Recently, a Syracuse-area judge was unable to award an arson victim more than $15,000 in restitution when the loss to the victim was far greater than $15,000. That case involved five separate instances of arson, and the estimated loss for one of those fires was $350,000. For the other four fires, the estimated loss went from a low of$45,000 to a high of $200,000. This act raises that limit to a more appropriate level.

Legislative history

S.6838/A.10507 of 2005-2006 S.2420/A.4776 of 2007-2008

Fiscal implications

None.

Local fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.