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Fixing the System: Exoneree Compensation
Many exonerees receive no monetary compensation for hardships faced due to being wrongfully incarcerated for crimes they did not commit.
There are currently 23 states that offer no compensation legislation and provide no assistance of any kind for exonerees: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.
Many of the 27 states that do offer compensation have outdated laws that offer minimal monetary compensation. Click here to view the compensation statutes currently in place for these states.
According to the Innocence Project "compensation statutes vary greatly—from a flat maximum total of $20,000 regardless of the number of years spent wrongfully imprisoned in New Hampshire, to $80,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment with no maximum total in Texas. The state of Montana offers no money at all, only educational aid to be used in the state university or community college system. Only five states meet the federal standard of up to $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment."
Compensation laws need a major overhaul. Exonerees not only deserve the federal standard recommendation of $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, they should also receive immediate assistance with housing, transportation, education, job placement, and health care.
Legislators must work to pass compensation laws in states that currently have no legislation on the books. States that already offer some form of compensation must reevaluate their current statutes to bring them up to the current federal recommendations.
Resources
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Fixing the System: Exoneree Compensation
an organization working to correct wrongful convictions
Injustice Anywhere
