Shoud you be able to buy your way out of jail time?

[Bono]

yes, if you paid restitution.
I don't care about fees.
This was teh system in saxonic England, and it's a shame that those pesky Normans got rid of it.

[Bono]

I agree with that. Victims of fraud for example would probably be happier getting their money back than seeing the perpetrator in jail, as long as the amount of restitution is enough to cover the loss and provide sufficient deterrent to future crimes. This would also be less expensive to the state than imprisonment.

That's actually a good point, although there might also be victims of fraud who would be much happier seeing the guy do jail time than getting their money back.  Maybe we could leave it up to the victim?  It seems like it isn't exactly justice to just give the victim back his money with compensation if the victim doesn't even care about it.

How about crimes that don't have victims?

[Bono]

However, a crime is an offense not only against the victim, but also an offense against society, against the People.

I'd like to see a philosophical justification of that.
How is it an offense against me that some guy in teh otehr end of the country pickpockets someone.
And don't use hipotheticals, as they are worthless.

[Bono]

I'd like to see a philosophical justification of that.
How is it an offense against me that some guy in teh otehr end of the country pickpockets someone.
And don't use hipotheticals, as they are worthless.

It is not a philosophical argument, but an assumption of the law. The entity in which ultimate sovereignty and power is vested is the one against whom the crime is committed. Under the common law, for instance, a crime is an offense against The Crown, the ultimate repository of power. Similarly, in the U.S., a crime is assumed to be an offense against the People. The issue is not philosophical, but legal.

Actually, no. in primitive anglo-saxon common law, there were no offenses against magican entities like "The People" or "The Crown", as suits, even criminal, were among several parts, and the punishment was usually restitution.
What happened was when the Norman kings started to change the saxonic laws.