Although government acts as the moral agent of the victims in a restitution-based system, it does not attempt to create or confer morality. In a punishment-based system, in contrast, the state is seen as the source of moral sanction—a view which stems from the fallacy of political reductionism (3.12:13-36) and leads to the destruction of freedom. Penalties are determined, not by an objective process of measurement of the effects of the offender's actions (as in a restitution system), but rather by subjective feelings such as the desire for vengeance. Such feelings are likely to vary erratically from case to case, leading to inconsistent and unpredictable sentences. The moral message conveyed by such a system to offenders is that certain actions are banned, not because they violate the lives and property of human beings, but merely because they have angered legislators and judges. It is, in brief, a message of moral subjectivism.

Restitution-based justice seeks to restore or repair the free market to the fullest extent possible once it has been breached (). Such a system thus serves both the ideal of freedom and the rational self-interest of all citizens.