LETTER: Convicted criminals need to make good on their restitution obligations

I appreciated Arthur Kane’s informative article “When Criminals Don’t Pay” (Nov. 15 Review-Journal) about flawed restitution policies in Nevada that allow people who have been ordered to pay restitution to get out of the judgment against them.

The biggest take-away from the article is that many of these criminals are courtroom insiders, such as attorneys, who use the system to profit. They have the knowledge and background to play the system. The know how to dodge, deflect and delay when needed. Laypeople are at the disadvantage.

I have endured a similar situation out of state, where an attorney had a judgment surcharging him for excessive attorney/trustee fees when working for my father. This was more than seven years ago, and this attorney has not paid him a dime of the almost $100,000.

When people perpetrate crimes, they should be held accountable. If they aren’t, it is an encouragement to others to violate the law, too. The system is not working now. There needs to be independent oversight, and criminals should be publicly disciplined. If they are ordered to pay restitution, that should be enforced.