Exonerated prisoners see wide differences in compensation

Lewis Jim Fogle was twice cursed.

Had he been exonerated in Texas, he would stand to receive wrongful conviction compensation of $2.72 million and an annuity of equal value.

Had he been exonerated in Alabama, his compensation would be at least $1.7 million.

But he was exonerated in Pennsylvania.

His compensation here: Zero.

So, Jim, as he is known, not only had the nightmarish misfortune of being wrongfully convicted in Indiana County in 1982 in the murder of a 15-year-old girl, but he also was exonerated in one of 20 states that provide no compensation for those wrongfully convicted.

About two-thirds of the 1,740 people who have been exonerated nationally since 1989 have received some compensation for the injustice they suffered, according to the Innocence Project in New York. Thirty states, the District of Columbia and the federal government provide that support.

Cost of freedom

Unlike so many public policy issues, providing compensation for wrongfully convicted people is not a partisan issue.

But what is the cost of freedom?

In the United States, even the jurisdictions that compensate exonerees disagree on an amount that is fair.

Texas leads all states with 237 exonerations since 1989, according to the most recent figures from the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan Law School. But it also is the leader with the amount exonerees can claim – $80,000 per year of incarceration, an annuity equal to that amount and up to $10,000 in reintegration financial assistance, among other benefits.

Compare Texas with Wisconsin and New Hampshire, which provide a maximum of $25,000 and $20,000, respectively, regardless of the number of years wrongfully served.

Then there are the 20 other states, including Kansas, that provide nothing.

For Rebecca Brown, policy director for the Innocence Project in New York, that stance flies in the face of justice and decency.

“No amount of money can make up for the time spent behind bars wrongfully,” she said. “However, there are things the government can do to enable someone to have a successful life. Many would argue the government cannot be forgiven for doing nothing.”

The Innocence Project is working nationally to have states enact statutes that would provide compensation of at least $63,000 per year of incarceration. The figure is based on the maximum yearly compensation provided under federal statute.

Additionally, because it takes about two years for an eligible exoneree to receive compensation, states should immediately upon release provide exonerees with re-entry services such as housing, health care, job counseling, education and mental health counseling, Brown said.

In 2015, 149 people nationally were exonerated, which broke a record for exonerations set the preceding year, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Exonerated prisoners see wide differences in compensation."