Today on Twitter, I got involved in a discussion of private law with Karl Smith (or whichever of the Modeled Behavior bloggers controls @modeledbehavior) [Update: It was Adam Ozimek]. My interlocutor was perfectly willing to accept that a system effectively of private law was suitable for non-violent offenses. Violators would pay restitution equal to damages times the reciprocal of the probability of detection (for optimal deterrence) and any enforcement costs such as court fees, the costs of investigation, and so on. Tort claims should be tradable so that the poor victims would get justice as well; they could sell their claims to wealthy entrepreneurs who would finance the up-front costs of investigating and litigating the tort.