A new form of restitution has become a core aspect of criminal punishment. Courts now order defendants to compensate victims for an increasingly broad category of losses, including emotional and psychological losses and losses for which the defendant was not found guilty. Criminal restitution...

States prosecute and incarcerate thousands of fathers every year for failing to pay their child support obligations. Ostensibly, these prosecutions aim to foster the health and well-being of children, without requiring the child's mother to bear the costs of raising the child. What may appear on...