From the one law class I took in college, civil courts are for one person to get reputations from another. Criminal courts are for society to get respirations from a person. A criminal fine is about paying back society because your lack of following the law is making people around you feel unsafe.
The victim of your crime can sue you independently and get additional money from you. I believe they can even use the evidence from the criminal trial and a civil trial is much easier to win.
Because someone has to pay the people who give out the fines, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to give out the fines, because they’d be working elsewhere. It’s the delicate balance of nature.
Many states have many laws that include paying for damages. You might want to research more.
Because that’s a profit motive, and for better or worse, you often need to have money to hire a lawyer and file a civil suit to get money as a victim which is a deterrent to filing frivolous suits.
If the State prosecuted crimes for you to get financial compensation I can assume you can see how problematic that might become.
About 20 years ago someone broke my car window and stole two backpacks. Few months later we got a check from a victim fund to cover the loss.
Now that is what I am talking about.
Often after a fine, there can be a civil suit where the victims can get direct restitution.
Fine is a general deterrent, restitution is separate.
Think fine for running a stop sign - that’s a deterrent for running the stop sign.
What if I am Musk rich? How is any of it a deterrent?
In some countries, the fine is not defined as a definite amount, but as a percentage of yearly income. In Finland, a mild speeding ticket is half your daily income. That means for Musk, if he was caught speeding there, would have to pay ~38,000,000 EUR as a mild slap on the wrist.
It does cost money to find and prosecute the offenders. Plus many crimes don’t have a specific victim, but pose risks or harms towards society in general.
