Compensation for the Wrongfully Convicted
By: Jeromi Beans
EG 372

The federal government needs to act on the issue of compensation for the wrongfully convicted. The first documented case of compensation of the wrongfully convicted happened in 1989 (The Innocent Project). The problem is that people have been convicted and spent long amounts of time in prisons and they were innocent of the crime. Later being exonerated by DNA testing, these people cannot get the time they spent locked up back, so this leaves only money to compensate them for their time. Some states have a program for this and others have caps on how much someone can receive, while others just do not compensate the wrongfully convicted at all(The Associated Press 2008). The problem has gotten big, as far as the people being exonerated in the states where they do not compensate the wrongfully convicted; these people feel that they should be compensated just like the others in states that do compensate. The people being exonerated and released from prison have no health care and struggle to get health care if at all (Soria, 2011). There have been 25 states to have exonerations from DNA testing (Resurrection after Exoneration). “A study by the Berkeley, California-based Life After Exoneration Program found that after their release; half of exonerates are living with family, 2 in 3 are not financially independent, 1 in 3 lose custody of their children, 1 out of 4 suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. All formerly incarcerated people face similar barriers. Most of the world treats exonerates like anyone else with a criminal record; Both groups are chronically underemployed Both groups have difficulty accessing routine government services, Both groups are routinely denied the right to vote, live in public housing, get food stamps, or access college loans. After struggling to survive in prison,