>Not that I completely agree with the extent of the punishment, but if you only ever charge the person the amount you would have made from the sale, and don’t p

>Not that I completely agree with the extent of the punishment, but if you only ever charge the person the amount you would have made from the sale, and don’t provide any other punishment (eg fine on top, conviction, community service etc) then there is little to no incentive for anyone to pay for them. I totally see where you're coming from, but IMHO fines are paid to governments. Restitution is paid to corporations. Subtle but important difference. It's extremely common in small claims for defendants to be "made whole" (paid for actual, measurable losses). But you're basically asking for emotional damages for theft... if someone stole my laptop all I could sue for is the replacement cost of the laptop and any associated costs (ex: broken car window). If you want to fine shoplifters, great. Maybe use that money towards various social programs - a lot of shoplifters are IV drug users for example. But don't just hand the fine money to a corporation that will continue to underpay it's employees to the point their salaries are subsidized by taxpayer money (food stamps).