Man wrongly imprisoned for 10 years granted only $500,000 compensation.

cajunrevenge · 2014-09-30T12:42:24+00:00

There's no amount of money that's worth losing the prime years of your life but it's better than nothing which is what he would have got before the new law went into affect. The law set a cap of 50k per year imprisoned so they couldn't have awarded him more. I think it should at least be the amount the spend to house an inmate for a year which is a good deal more than 50k a year.

I bet that man is experience a kind of happiness right now that few of us will ever know. Hope he makes the most of it.

2014-09-30T15:12:41+00:00

in other news, just like /u/dlfnjwj already said, a woman was granted 1 million dollars because she was falsely called a pornstar

this shit should belong on /r/WTF

Nomenimion · 2014-09-30T13:28:10+00:00

They should add a zero to that figure.

googlecacheguy · 2014-09-30T11:00:14+00:00

Google cached version

AcidJiles · 2014-09-30T14:49:45+00:00

"A King County jury convicted him solely on the basis of eyewitness testimony, and he was sentenced to 16½ years in prison, according to the IPNW. "

Juries need to be told how unreliable witness testimony is and should certainly not convict on it alone.

rubber_chicken_sex · 2014-09-30T19:14:19+00:00

It's different by state for compensation from wrongful conviction (Some have none at all)

Texas (my state) has some pretty decent imo

$80,000 per year of wrongful incarceration, as well as $25,000 per year spent on parole or as a registered sex offender, plus an annuity.

Compensation for child support payments, tuition for up to 120 hours at a career center or public institution of higher learning, and reentry and reintegration services, including life skills, job and vocational training for as long as those services are beneficial. In addition, the state provides necessary documentation (i.e. a state ID card) and financial assistance to cover living expenses. Help is also provided to access medical and dental services, including assistance in completing documents required for application to federal entitlement programs, assistance in obtaining mental health treatment and related support services through the public mental health system for as long as necessary. Assistance also includes obtaining appropriate support services, as identified by the exoneree and the assigned case manager, to assist in making the transition from incarceration into the community.

Funcuz · 2014-09-30T14:11:10+00:00

It's a raw deal for sure but unfortunately some states even cap compensation at ridiculously lower values.

I don't know why exactly they do this other than for the obvious reason of wanting to save money in an area they know they can get away with it. After all, it doesn't matter that the guy has been proven innocent : What matters is that he was in prison for 10 years and based on that, he'll always be a convict in the mind of the general public. So nobody cares that he was actually innocent. What they think is "A convict wasn't supposed to be in prison ? Well, give him a few bucks and send him on his way." They don't think "An innocent man lost 10 precious years of his life to the state's bureaucracy."

What he needs to do is take it all the way to the supreme court. Somebody has to. It should be considered unconstitutional to deny that people lose more than their yearly hypothetical salary. We can't give them back their time but we should be able to compensate them a lot more for what the state took.

It sucks that taxpayers will be on the hook for it but the goal is to force legislators and governments to change how they do business. No more false convictions equals fewer reasons for the public to shell out cash it should never have had to shell out. In other words, if the state had done its job correctly in the first place then we wouldn't have had to throw the last batch of politicians out of office for being piss poor at mitigating loss.

thehumungus · 2014-09-30T17:37:12+00:00

50k is a TINY amount for attorney fees, as well.

You can get a lot more if you can show malfeasance in the conviction.

Courtlessjester · 2014-09-30T19:12:52+00:00

Sometimes i feel the people in this sub just like being outraged.

He is lucky he got anything, prior to the 2013 law, he would have to sue the government for reparations and would need more than a false conviction to obtain them. Also, that 500k is tax free and the government covered the lawyer fees as well.

If you feel like you must be angry, get mad at mandatory minimum sentencing or shitty criminal defense attorneys that let things like this happen.

GreenBayTide · 2014-09-30T17:06:10+00:00

No where does it say the government has to compensate for your wrongful imprisonment. Either that or I've been taught wrong.

Insula92 · 2014-09-30T11:43:35+00:00

I don't think that's particularly low.

eazy_ · 2014-09-30T20:52:06+00:00

I would take that deal. Be gone for 10 years, come home with 500k.

Title	Man wrongly imprisoned for 10 years granted only $500,000 compensation.
Author	cellardoor3
Upvotes	263
Comments	57
Date	September 30, 2014 10:53 AM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/2hvna3/man-wrongly-imprisoned-for-10-years-granted-only-/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/man-wrongly-imprisoned-for-10-years-granted-only.1621522 https://theredarchive.com/post/1621522

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