State Seeks More Compensation For Wrongful Imprisonment

Nationwide, an increase in exonerations based on DNA evidence has raised concerns about states’ compensation statutes in civil lawsuits filed for wrongful imprisonment. In Chicago, lawmakers and advocates are pushing to amend current state legislation to ensure wrongfully convicted inmates receive fair compensation for their losses.

Chicago State Representative Mary Flowers announced Wednesday that she will reintroduce a bill—already proposed twice—that would increase the compensation amount. Currently, Chicago, among other states, have compensation statutes that cap the amount awarded to those who were convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.

Experts say new laws are very important since most wrongfully convicted inmates, even those who are eventually cleared by DNA, are hard-pressed to successfully resolve a civil rights suit.

In order to win, former prisoners must be able to show that police intentionally violated their rights. i.e. withholding evidence or manipulating witnesses. Those that were convicted because of an eyewitness’ misidentification won’t win their case and get no compensation for their damages.

“It doesn’t matter whether police acted wrongly or a prosecutor acted wrongly, it’s the same damage for the innocent person who went to prison,” said Karen Daniel, staff attorney at Northwestern University School of Law’s Center of Wrongful Convictions.

“You’re harmed regardless of how you got there,” she said. “You’re still losing that part of your life.”

According to Adele Bernhard, a professor at Pace Law School in New York, since 1999, at least eight states in the U.S. have implemented new legislation or increased the amount of compensation that former inmates can collect.

In California, a wrongfully imprisoned inmate can receive $100 a day for every day they were jailed. Tennessee’s new cap is at $1 million. New York has no limit on the amount of compensation awards.

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