Hmmm... I don't know how it should be handled, but trying to prevent Walmart from taking this couse of action seems like it would be difficult to enforce within

Hmmm... I don't know how it should be handled, but trying to prevent Walmart from taking this couse of action seems like it would be difficult to enforce within the constrainst of our legal system. Maybe a blanket policy that if you attempt to blackmail/extort/coerse someone into participating in some arrangement of alternative justice (outside the legal system) by using the threat of prosecution, you lose your legal standing as a victim, and therefore your ability to enforce prosecution? Let's say I was raped, and then attempt to extort money from the rapist in leiu of filing charges, I certainly think I would lose some credibility as a victim, and it's unfair to society who deserves knowledge of the potential threat, at minimum. It's important to recognize that the law someone violates is a crime against society as a whole, not just a crime against the particular victim. In this situation, the law is against shoplifting in general (society as a whole can be the victim), not against shoplifting FROM Walmart, so we should be careful to not let Walmart deprive society of our ability to enforce the agreed upon consequences.