Or perhaps there is an understandable reluctance to open up the state's limited coffers to what could be exorbitantly high awards. Perhaps, because there are so few prisoners exonerated compared to the general prison population, legislators do not see urgency. Nonetheless, legislators do not seem motivated to set aside funding until the need arises. There is no vocal lobby against allocating funds for wrongly convicted prisoners.

Kaplan's statement is not terribly controversial. They need a lot more financial support and other kinds of support, too, ranging from job skills, mental health, family related issues, and depression,' she said. 'All of these people deserve something for their time in prison. In some cases, having a conviction set aside by a judge is not enough - indemnification may also depend on getting a pardon by the state's governor, which can be a long and tedious process.Īliza Kaplan, deputy director of the Innocence Project, says her group will soon begin widening its focus to include compensation for exonerees. place no cap on awards.Įven in states with indemnification laws, many exonerees face other caveats that complicate the process of receiving restitution. On the other end of the spectrum, New York and Washington, D.C. North Carolina and Wisconsin offer a maximum of $5,000 to exonerees. Of the compensation laws on the books, only a few are considered adequate by defense attorneys. 'As it stands right now, he is on his own.' 'Larry Johnson has physical needs, economic needs and he will have emotional and psychological needs,' Pleban said.

If Johnson's lawyers cannot dig up any evidence of a bad faith effort by prosecutors or police in his case, he will be at the mercy of state legislators who, so far, have not crafted a law designed to repay innocent men who have spent time in Missouri's prisons. In a twisted sense, McMillian was lucky because there was proof of foul play by law enforcement officials. 'I think that's something society owes someone it has deprived of the liberties we take for granted.' 'The presumption should be, if you were exonerated, the state should compensate you for the time you were in prison and to help make your transition easier into the real world,' he said. No man who has had to withstand the psychic trauma of sitting on death row should have to go through such rigmarole to get reimbursed, he said. McMillian's case represents how frustrating the pursuit for compensation can be for exonerees in states where no laws exist for repaying them, Stevenson said. At the time, Alabama did not have a compensation statute, although the McMillian case helped get a law passed there in 2001. The high court ruled against him on a legal technicality, but McMillian settled with other parties in the case for an undetermined amount.

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