Atlanta Progressive News

The Innocence Project is out with a new report that finds of the 240 inmates exonerated through DNA evidence, 40 percent have received no assistance.

Of the 60 percent who have received compensation, only half received it under state compensation statutes. The rest had to file lawsuits or pursue special legislation.

Eighty-one percent of exonerees who have received compensation through a statute received less than the federal standard of up to $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment. Most received no funds for social services because only 10 of the 27 states that have compensation laws provide for social services.

Once exonerees file for state assistance, the report found that they may have to wait up to three years to receive the funds.

“When people are exonerated, they should find a safety net, not another long legal battle,” Stephen Saloom, Policy Director at the Innocence Project, said.  “States have a responsibility to restore innocent people’s lives to the best of their abilities; every single state needs to pass a comprehensive compensation statute without further delay.”

In light of the new report, the Innocence Project announced this week it will work over the next year to pass compensation laws in several states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, while working to improve existing laws in states like Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.

The group, using federal standards outlined in the Innocence Protection Act of 2004, recommends states provide $50,000 for every year an exoneree wrongly spent in jail and $100,000 for every year spent on death row.

Model legislation should also include the following, according to the report:

1. Cover limited and appropriate attorney’s fees associated with filing for compensation
2. Provide immediate services including housing, transportation, education, workforce development, physical and mental health care through the state employee’s health care system, and other transitional services
3. Issue an official acknowledgment of the wrongful conviction.

“Eligibility for funding under compensation statutes is already significantly restrictive. The exoneree must be able to show that she served time in prison for a crime she didn’t commit,” the report states. “DNA testing is the surest way of proving innocence, but it is not available in every case. Therefore, the applicant must show that the prosecution has dropped the charges, or that she was found not guilty on re-trial, or that the governor has issued a pardon. Having a conviction overturned based on a legal technicality would not be enough to qualify for compensation.”

Read “Making up for Lost Time: What the Wrongfully Convicted Endure and How to Provide Fair Compensation.”

Below is the breakdown of compensation laws by states:

• Alabama has a minimum of $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration
• California has a maximum of $100 per day (or $36,500 per year) of wrongful incarceration
• Connecticut bases compensation on claims for loss of liberty, loss of earning capacity, physical and mental pain and attorney’s fees and other expenses related to such person’s wrongful conviction
• The District of Columbia asks the court to determine what amount fairly and reasonably compensates the exonerated
• Florida  provides for $50,000 annually with a maximum of $2 million
• Illinois allows for $85,350 for those who served up to five years, $170,000 for those who served between five and 14 years, $199,150 for those who served more than 14 years
• Iowa provides $50 per day (or $18,250 per year) of wrongful incarceration plus lost wages up to $25,000 a year, plus attorney’s fees
• Louisiana provides $15,000 per year of wrongful incarceration, with a maximum of $150,000
• Maine has a maximum of $300,000
• Maryland’s Board of Public Works determines compensation packages for pardoned persons who were wrongfully convicted, and may grant a reasonable amount for any financial or other appropriate counseling for the individual
• Massachusetts has a maximum of $500,000
• Mississippi allows $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration with a maximum of $500,000
• Missouri provides $50 per day (or $18,250 per year) of post-conviction confinement
• Nebraska allows $25,000 per year with a maximum of $500,000
• New Hampshire provides a maximum of $20,000 for the entirety of the wrongful incarceration
• New Jersey allows twice the amount of the exoneree’s income in the year prior to incarceration or $20,000 per year of incarceration, whichever is greater
• New York, whose Court of Claims determines what amount will fairly and reasonably compensate the wrongfully convicted person, has no maximum amount
• North Carolina provides $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration with a maximum of $750,000
• Ohio allows $40,330 per year in addition to lost wages, costs, and attorney’s fees
• Oklahoma provides $175,000 for the entirety of the wrongful incarceration
• Tennessee has a maximum of $1,000,000 for the entirety of a wrongful incarceration
• Texas allows $80,000 per year of a wrongful incarceration, as well as $25,000 per year spent on parole or as a registered sex offender, plus an annuity
• Utah, where a wrongfully convicted person is eligible to receive for each year he was incarcerated, up to a maximum of 15 years, provides the monetary equivalent of the average nonagricultural payroll wage in the state
• Vermont gives between $30,000 and $60,000 per year the person was incarcerated if filed within three years of exoneration
• Virginia provides 90% of the Virginia per capita personal income for up to 20 years
• West Virginia does not have a maximum amount specified
• Wisconsin provides $5,000 for each year in prison, with a maximum of $25,000 plus attorney’s fees