What our other readers have said:
Last updated: 6:15 p.m. 06/05/07
Hold police and prosecutors accountable
When wrongful incarceration occurs, society should look at the prosecutors and the investigating officers to see where the error lies, and these people should be made accountable. Yes, if it means sending police officers and prosecutors to jail then so be it. They brought the case in my name ... and the only way for my name to be cleared is to take action against those who spoiled it.
Wayne Paris, Boston, Mass., USA
States aren't to blame
The states owe the wrongfully convicted nothing. Those that furnished evidence, tried the case, and defended them owe them whatever material goods they have.
Greg Hall, Dallas, Tex., USA
Depends on the type of 'mistake'
I think it should partly depend on how honest the "mistake" was, and also on how much the time was worth to the wrongfully incarcerated as seen by him/her and judged by an impartial, out-of-state jury (yet how can you value a day of freedom?). To say the system worked but the verdict in hindsight was wrong does not excuse [repayment], in my opinion. I think this applies to both those officially sentenced and those held without sentencing. And yes, the restitution should not necessarily come from the taxpayer.
Dane Frick, Queensland, Australia
Reevaluate the justice system
Society owes them a free trip in a time machine to undo the mistake.
Money is just an easy way to wash ourselves of the guilt of imprisoning the wrong person. The "cost" of incarcerating an innocent person is quite high: court costs plus prison costs plus what that person could have contributed to society had he not been locked up. That is what the person is owed.
And since the rest of us are paying for it (taxes!), we should think about the nature of our justice system and whether it is serving the public good.
James London, San Jose, Calif., USA
Compensation is the measure of a just society
If society is willing to jail an innocent person, then society should also be willing to compensate that person when a mistake is recognized. Just like I'm willing to drive a car and take the risk of damaging someone or their property, I'm equally willing to pay for that damage when it occurs. Mistakes happen; what we do afterwards is the measure of a just society.
Jeb Burgess, Seattle, Wash., USA
Blame the priorities of the prosecutors
The 200 men that have been exonerated are not one percent of the men that have been wrongly convicted. Prosecutors are much more concerned about their conviction percentage that they are about guilt or innocence. Look at Nancy Grace, who brags about her one hundred percent conviction rate. Do you believe that? The people who are wrongly convicted should get one million dollars for every year they are imprisoned. The prosecutors and judges who wrongly convict them should serve the sentence that was imposed on the innocent.
Cecil Sayer, Glendale, Ariz., USA
Only compensate if there is proven malfeasance by the prosecution or court
I believe that in most cases where a person is brought before a jury, with the case presented by attorneys from both the prosecution and the defense, and the jury renders a decision, they do so based on the evidence presented to them. They have made the best choice they can, with what is available, and they have been convinced, in most cases beyond a reasonable doubt, that they have made the correct decision. Based on this, the person wrongfully convicted is owed nothing but a pardon. He or she was provided for by the state during their incarceration and, perhaps, should be given some assistance in getting back into society, as anyone who has been through a traumatic event could be.
However, unless there is proven malfeasance on the part of some person in the prosecution or the court itself, the state (i.e., you and me) does not owe this person. If there was malfeasance, then that should be investigated and, if proven, then the victim could be owed restitution.
If the justice system worked the way it was set up to do, and a person was convicted based on the evidence available at the time, then new evidence – of any sort – does not warrant restitution.
Frank Mummert, Richmond, Va., USA
Community needs to right the wrong
For periods of over 5 years, and after a review for prosecutorial misconduct or negligence, the wrongly convicted victim should receive the average salary for the region, life-long medical and psychological care, free lifetime education, compensation to his immediate family, any additional funds deemed appropriate by the court, and a public apology by the district attorney for the region. The community needs to make right the wrong.
Robert Brosa, Maple Valley, Wash., USA
Punish the real criminal
On the basis of misguided justice, it is hard to determine which particular factor is at fault. You have the police, who built the case well enough for charges to stick. You have the prosecutor, who took the case and decided it had to go to trial. You have the judge, who bestowed the sentence. You have the jury, who gave the verdict.
Are the police liable for a wrongful arrest? It depends on how the individual officers handle it. If the arrest was handled according to procedure, and they simply got the wrong guy, then there can be no compensation.
If the prosecutor, trusting the police to give him the right information, succeeds in trying the suspect, he is also not at fault. A similar logic applies to the judge and jury as well. Accidents happen. The system fails because it is made up of humans.
However, the wrongfully tried are still owed compensation for their livelihood and destroyed reputations. For every day he or she is incarcerated wrongfully, he should be paid at least $1,000 per day for his troubles. Being in prison is a physical and psychological ordeal that most people will not be able to overcome.
However, for any actual maliciousness that can be properly credited toward any and all of the persons that lead to the wrongful imprisonment of the individual, those that are guilty [should] serve the rest of the sentence of the individual who was wrongfully imprisoned, without the benefits of parole. Let that hang over their heads the next time the gavel strikes.
Bertrand Kotewall, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Remember where the money comes from
In considering ways that money could be dispersed by a government whether at the city, state, or federal level, it must be kept in mind that all they money they have to play with ultimately comes from the average citizen's taxes. Governments make no money of their own because they produce nothing. They are at best an overhead cost that minimizes the overhead cost of crime, and at worst, a wasteful institution that causes more injury than it prevents.
I believe that just compensation for an injury done by the state to an innocent man is very important, but when we consider where that compensation comes from we should think carefully how we might want to structure the incentives. Reparations to mistreated innocents have to be balanced against the government's duties to protect, rather than plunder the people's assets and to apprehend the guilty. But the government also cannot be allowed to continually make mistakes at other people's expense. That applies to both the wrongly convicted innocent and the taxpayers.
Greg Banville, Houston, Texas, USA
Income, counseling, education, and a pension
I believe that the wrongly convicted are entitled to benefits that would provide them with a dignified, decent life after their release. This includes providing them with a comprehensive post-release package, including income for those years of incarceration, as well as state-funded counseling, education, and job-finding assistance. If the released person is over 55, then I believe they should also be granted a pension that would provide them with a living wage income for the remainder of their natural lives. That's the least we can do for taking someone's life away from them for several years.
Ian Chamberlin, Phoenix, Ariz., USA
There should be broad liability
States should be liable in these cases for compensating their victims comparably to what a victim of a kidnap and false imprisonment crime would get in a civil court if the perpetrator of such a crime is caught and convicted. Awards should not be so high as to spawn intentional wrong imprisonment, but they should be high enough to discourage these cases. Prosecutors, police, judges, juries, and false witnesses should be held personally liable in extreme cases, and in some cases they should do some jail time of their own, if they knowingly convict an innocent person. Wrongful imprisonment should very rarely occur. But when it does, the victim should be treated fairly, and those responsible should pay for their "mistake."
Eddie Eifling, White Hall, Ariz., USA
Tax payers shouldn't pay
I wonder why the state tax payers have to pay for the mistake they did not make. The jury are not trained professionals so they should not have to pay for the error. The judge should pay for part of the compensation from their pay checks or pensions for each case they misjudged.
We should improve our juristic system based on these 200+ sentences to see how we can correct the system to avoid future mistakes. Freedom is priceless and the time you missed for being part of your family has no dollar sign for it. But there should be a cap for the compensation.
Jose Card, New York, N.Y., USA
Full compensation
I think that those wrongfully imprisoned deserve to receive all the money they would have hypothetically earned in a reasonable best-case scenario, plus interest. I think that for every year spent in prison, the compensation should be at least $100,000 tax free. The wrongly convicted should also receive paid vacation, free education, job search services, counseling for life, and an in-person apology from the current governor and all those involved in the trial who helped form a case for their conviction. The state government should if necessary run a publicity campaign that could include newspaper articles or phone calls to help the person exonerate themselves in their private lives.
Eric Saulnier, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
The government owes citizens for its failure to protect them
Wrongly convicted people absolutely deserve compensation. While wronged by government, they are nonetheless entitled to the same protections under the law as anyone else. The government owes them for its failure to protect them. I believe that people falsely convicted should be guaranteed compensation by the US government for a sum of not less than $100,000 for every year and/or partial year they were wrongfully detained. In a country where athletes, actors, CEOs, and many others make millions annually... such compensation can hardly be considered extravagant. Yet, it is sufficient enough to get them reinserted into society. Automatic compensation should also reduce the cost to society of the lawsuits that mostly benefit the lawyers.
Mistakes by human beings are to be expected, but mistakes by our government against its citizens should never be simply dismissed. It goes against the very nature of our country.
Ted Roberts, Lily Lake, Ill., USA
