	Background

Federal courts may not order a defendant to pay restitution to the victims of his or her crimes unless authorized to do so. One, 18 U.S.C. 3663, permits it for certain crimes. In addition, several individual restitution statutes authorize awards for particular offenses. In addition, federal courts may order restitution pursuant to a plea agreement or as a condition of probation or supervised release. In the case of mandatory restitution, federal courts must order victim restitution when sentencing a defendant for a felony that constitutes either (1) a crime of violence; (2) an offense against property, including fraud or deceit proscribed in Title 18; (3) maintaining a drug-involved premise; (4) animal enterprise terrorism; (5) failure to provide child support; (6) human trafficking; (7) sexual abuse; (8) child pornography; (9) stalking or domestic violence; (10) copyright infringement; (11) telemarketing fraud; or (12) amphetamine or methamphetamine offenses. Sections 3663 and 3663A authorize restitution orders for the benefit of the victims of the crime of conviction, and now expressly define the term "victim" (i.e., "a person directly and proximately harmed as a result of the commission of an offense for which restitution may be ordered"). Yet, the general conspiracy provision in title 18 can provide the necessary basis for a mandatory restitution order when the defendant is convicted of conspiracy to commit property damage in violation of a federal law found outside of title 18. First, there must be an identifiable victim who has suffered a physical injury or a pecuniary loss. 853(q) (restitution in controlled substances cases involving amphetamine and methamphetamine offenses). Section 3663 authorizes restitution when the defendant has been convicted of a crime proscribed under title 18 of the United States Code . In addition, as mentioned earlier, a court may also order restitution consistent with a plea agreement or as a condition of probation or supervised release, even with respect to crimes for which restitution is not authorized under §§3663 or 3663A. If not, restitution takes the form of compensatory payments. As a general rule, victims are entitled only to be made whole; unlike the sentencing guidelines which calculate sentence enhancements based on both actual and intended losses, the restitution statutes permit awards only for actual losses. Those authorizations, found in 18 U.S.C. They each: (1) insist on restitution of the "full amount of the victim's losses;" (2) define "victims" in much the manner of §§3663 and 3663A; (3) supply a list of losses for which restitution must be ordered; (4) make it clear that neither the defendant's poverty nor victim compensation from other sources absolves the court of its obligation to order restitution; and (5) otherwise adopt the procedural mechanisms used for restitution under Section 3663A. The probation officer's report is presented to the court, the defendant, and the prosecutor. The court resolves contested restitution issues by a preponderance of the evidence following a hearing, at which the prosecution bears the burden of establishing the existence and extent of the victim's losses, and the defendant bears the burden on questions regarding his or her finances and the extent to which the defendant has compensated the victim for the losses. Victims may assign their right to receive restitution payments to Crime Victims Fund, but the courts are divided over whether the court may order restitution to be paid to the Crime Victims Fund on its own initiative if the victim refuses to accept it. There are several means to enforce a restitution order. In addition, the victims' rights provisions of 18 U.S.C.
Federal courts may not order a defendant to pay restitution to the victims of his or her crimes unless authorized by statute to do so. Several statutes supply such authorization. For instance, federal courts are statutorily required to order victim restitution when sentencing a defendant either for an offense against property, including fraud or deceit, proscribed in Title 18 of the United States Code or for a crime of violence. The obligation exists even if the defendant is indigent, and restitution must take the form of in-kind, lump sum, or installment payments. Federal courts are permitted, but not required, to order victim restitution when sentencing a defendant for any offense proscribed in Title 18 for which restitution is not required. Federal courts are permitted to order victim restitution when sentencing a defendant for various controlled substance and aviation safety offenses. In addition, a federal court may order restitution pursuant to a plea bargain or as a condition of probation or supervised release.
As a general rule, restitution is available only to victims who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss as a direct and proximate consequence of the crime of conviction, and only to the extent of their losses. Several provisions governing restitution following conviction for particular crimes permit awards for types of losses that might not otherwise be permitted under the general restitution provisions. For example, the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008 (18 U.S.C. 3663(b)(6)) authorizes restitution orders to compensate victims for the cost of remediating the intended or actual harm caused by certain identity theft violations. The courts are divided over the extent to which a defendant convicted of possession of child pornography may be ordered to make restitution to the child depicted in the material.
When restitution is authorized, a probation officer gathers information from victims, the government, the defendant, and other sources for a report to the court. The parties receive copies of the report and may contest its recommendations. The court has considerable discretion as to the manner and scheduling of restitution payments, but the authority may not be delegated to probation or prison officials. Furthermore, the order must provide for full restitution for all victims unless the sheer number of victims or the complications of a given case preclude such an order.
Under the abatement doctrine, when a defendant dies before his or her appeal has become final, the law treats the indictment and conviction as though they had never happened. The conviction is vacated and the indictment dismissed. The courts do not agree on whether the doctrine also reaches unfulfilled obligations under a restitution order.
This report is an abridged version of CRS Report RL34138, Restitution in Federal Criminal Cases—without footnotes, citations to most authorities, or appendixes found in the longer report. Related reports include CRS Report RL33679, Crime Victims' Rights Act: A Summary and Legal Analysis of 18 U.S.C. 3771, available in abridged form as CRS Report RS22518, Crime Victims' Rights Act: A Sketch of 18 U.S.C. 3771.