The
Old
Testament Christian "concept of penance"
evolved into today's
modern concept of criminal law. A wrongdoer should pay penance to cover
the sin of his crime. The penance was of course paid, not to the victim, but to the church. The
rewards of processing criminals led to the church establishing its own
courts. The concept of a fine was well established in the church
courts when the Government took them over and claimed the
proceeds for themselves. Today all fines are paid to the Government. The
victims and their families are forgotten by the Criminal Justice
machine. The dominant
underlying motivation is its own economics, almost completely paid by the
lowest members of our society.
