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Of course, that freedom comes at a cost. Relationships with family and friends are often irrevocably harmed. Technological changes make for a difficult re-adjustment period. And of course, there's the financial aspect of it all. Namely, if you've spent half your life unfairly behind bars, how exactly can you afford to keep a roof over your head when you have few marketable job skills and no resume to lean on? Just how do you explain that 15 year gap? Can someone who is exonerated ever get back into the workforce at a level that seems fair given the injustice of their unfair sentencing?
According to the non-profit The Innocence Project, "In some states, more services are available to parolees than to exonerees." As far as compensation for the time lost, "27 states and the District of Columbia have compensation of some form, but even many of these are inadequate." Furthermore, "About half of people exonerated after proving their innocence have not been compensated for the injustice they suffered and the time they spent incarcerated." So even though in many cases these men and women regain their freedom, they often find a world so dramatically different that the one they knew pre-incarceration that it can seem like a prison without walls. And this time without the material sustenance the government, however horribly, provided.
Existing compensation laws vary widely by state, from a flat maximum total of $20,000 regardless of the number of years spent wrongfully imprisoned in New Hampshire, to the $80,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment with no maximum total in Texas. Only five states meet the federal recommendation of up to $50,000 per year of imprisonment. Other states deny assistance to applicants who falsely confessed or pled guilty, and still others deny compensation to applicants who were exonerated without the benefit of DNA testing. Even if you are lucky enough to get compensation, it can take years of legal and bureaucratic wrangling before you receive your payout.
In New York state, the "Court of Claims determines what amount will fairly and reasonably compensate the wrongfully convicted person, [and] has no maximum amount," a policy recently illustrated in a huge settlement awarded in Manhattan:
A Bronx man who spent more than 20 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit was awarded $18.6 million [this week] by a Manhattan federal jury. Alan Newton was convicted in 1985 but never gave up on proving his innocence. In 1994 he made his first request to test the victim's rape kit, but the NYPD couldn't find it.
It wasn't until 2005 that officials located the evidence. They tested it the following year and it proved Newton never committed the heinous crime. He filed suit in 2007 and after years of legal wrangling with the city, Newton's lawsuit was allowed to go forward, culminating in yesterday's blockbuster verdict. Newton now works for CUNY and has said he'll use part of the money to pay for law school.
A spokeswoman for the City Law Department said: "We are disappointed with the verdict, and plan to appeal."
If there's any silver lining to this story, it's that Alan Newton was unfairly accused of a crime in the Bronx, so he's sorta lucky in a way. At least he got some form of financial compensation for his trials. What if he had been in Delaware? Uhhh, not so much. He very likely would not have received anything for over 20 years of lost life.
Innocence Project attorneys work pro-bono, and personal injury rewards are tax-exempt, so Newton will get most of what's due to him. Still, this was the best case scenario. Plus, the reality is, with the city planning to appeal, it could still be years before Newton gets his money for his time in prison.
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It's great that Newton has a job, and is planning to go to law school, but perhaps he could have been so much more. Is $18.6 million in compensation, in this the best of possible outcomes, even fair? Gawker.com did the rough math, and found out that after 22 years of incarceration, Newton's getting roughly $96 an hour for his inconvenience. This is based on a staggering $841,000 per year in compensation. That's $96 an hour for all the life experiences and personal potential that Newton could have experienced, or contributed to society.
Is a man's freedom worth a mere $96 an hour? What about the lives of the innocent men and women in other states who will receive nothing if exonerated, not even help from the state?
How much would 22 years of your life be worth?
Jay Anderson is a freelance writer from Washington, DC, whose work has been featured in the Washington Post and on NPR. When he's not busy talking smack here, he runs the award-winning blog AverageBro.com. Follow him via Twitter @AverageBro.