The adage of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is no longer valid, because we are "civilized." Crime victims must let the police find the accused, allow the prosecutor to bring charges against the alleged suspect in court, and hope for conviction by a jury to exact punishment.

The criminal justice process designed by politicians makes convicted criminals pay a debt to society—whatever that means—instead of paying a debt to the victims. Victims, their families and taxpayers get revictimized by having to pay taxes for the police, the prosecution, the courts and the prisons. Victims of criminals get the short end of the stick, as this bureaucratic process, from assault to conviction, happens about 25% of the time.

Victims of criminals suffer from the loss of income and often need medical care. In Puritan times, a convicted criminal could be assigned as an indentured servant to victims and their families. A convicted criminal literally worked to personally pay for the costs of the injuries to victims and their families.

This approach fell out of favor as politicians introduced sentences with stiff penalties to "deter crime." Next, sociologists determined that criminals could be "rehabilitated" while undergoing "reform" from their previous criminal ways. Restitution to crime victims and their families was lost in the shuffle of prisoner reform, so victims and their families were often left destitute.

In California, Governor Pat Brown addressed the issue of victim restitution in 1965 by creating the Victims Compensation Fund (VCP). The fund provides compensation to crime victims for injuries and other losses. The money is collected from convicted felons by mandatory court fines of up to $10,000. The funds are pooled for claimant awards based on need. Up to $70,000 in losses can be paid to a claimant, less reimbursements from insurance and other resources. In 2005, the VCP approved 40,342 applications and awarded $58.9 million in claims, for an average payment of $1,460 with a processing time of 74 days.

While the Victims Compensation Fund helps, there are restitution gaps. The program is based on a convicted felon earning an income while in prison or having assets that could be seized by mandatory court decree for victim restitution. With a conviction rate on arrests statewide of some 25% on major crimes, a large number of suspects pay nothing. Fortunately, victims can still get restitution from the pooled funds even if the criminal is never caught.

The criminal program does not provide restitution in some cases, such as embezzlement, fraud or arson. Any potential recovery in these cases is difficult, even when the court authorizes the seizure and sale of ill-gotten assets upon conviction.

It's time to bring back a modernized version of the Puritan indentured servant program.

A small step in the right direction is the California Prison Industry Authority, which manufactures goods for government agencies. The 6,000 prisoners working at those facilities receive pay from 30 to 95 cents per hour. Through court orders a portion is sent to the VCP, with some $700,000 going to the VCP victim restitution claim pool annually.

With 170,000 prisoners and a total budget of $7.4 billion, the California Department of Corrections could have prison labor cover the costs of incarceration and of reimbursing all crime victims. Even without the most violent prisoners, more than 6,000 prisoners are capable of working for more than 30–95 cents an hour.

The Prison Industry Authority needs significant expansion to encompass more manufacturing or other labor-intensive jobs and higher pay. With farmers decrying immigration raids drying up farm workers, there's always farm labor at decent pay.

Yes, a fine line must be walked in the difference between decently paid prison labor and slave labor. However, with approved amendments, prisoners should not only earn enough to offset the costs of incarceration and victim restitution but also have enough left over to buy personal items at prison stores, send funds to their families, and have a small nest egg for when they are paroled or released after serving their time.

Californians must demand a deep review of punishment versus restitution and our criminal sentencing laws. More important, we must demand a vigorous review of the incestuous revolving criminal justice merry-go-round involving politicians, police, prosecutors and prison guards, who loathe a criminal justice fix that would put them out of work.