If you're the victim of a property crime, a judge can order someone found guilty of the crime to make restitution to you.
"What we found out is that in the long run, that rarely happens," says Marina Villeneuve of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.
In a series of articles, beginning today, Villeneuve describes a system that promises too much and delivers too little restitution. I talked about this with Villeneuve and John Christie, editor-in-chief of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.
The story by reporter Marina Villeneuve, entitled "False Hope," begins running today in several state newspapers.
