What do states owe the exonerated?
States' compensation for wrongful imprisonment ranges from zero to millions of dollars.
from the May 30, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Neither Mr. Olenick nor Crotzer can be sure why the request for $1.25 million failed, especially after the Florida House unanimously approved it. Senate leaders said they didn't have the money – a common reason that states cite in not providing compensation. In Crotzer's case, some also suggested that lawmakers didn't want to grant any more individual compensation bills, but instead wanted to pass a "global" bill that would address all cases. However, the three such bills that were introduced in past years didn't go anywhere.
Some believe Crotzer may also have been hurt by the fact that he was convicted of a beer store robbery when he was 18 – a fact that would have excluded him from compensation under one of the laws proposed in Florida.
Olenick says he'll keep fighting and will refile the claim for next year's session. "When you handle a case like Al's, he becomes locked in your heart," Olenick says. "Until he gets compensated, I'm not going to stop."
What states are offering
Here is a sampling of provisions in state legislation for prisoner compensation in cases of exoneration:
California: $100 per day of incarceration
Montana: Educational aid for those exonerated through postconviction DNA testing
New Hampshire: Maximum of $20,000
New Jersey: Whichever is greater – twice the amount of the claimant's income in the year prior to incarceration or $20,000, for each year of incarceration
Tennessee: Maximum total of $1 million
Source: The Innocence Project
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