Innocence Blog
February 15, 2007
Editorial urges New York to form state innocence commission
Six states have formed innocence commissions to review their criminal justice systems and ensure that wrongful convictions are prevented in every way possible. The Innocence Project advocates for similar entities in other states. A bill currently pending in New York would create a commission, and the Utica Observer-Dispatch supports it.
(Roy) Brown was not the first and certainly not the only person to be wrongly convicted of a crime. But New York can do more than just lament this injustice, it can work to right other wrongs and prevent conviction of innocent people.
One suggestion for doing that is the creation of an innocence commission. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, has a bill to establish a commission of 10 unpaid appointees, made up of police, prosecutors, judges, crime victims, defense attorneys and educators. The panel would analyze a case after a judge has ruled that someone was wrongfully convicted.
We urge the Legislature and Gov. Eliot Spitzer to create such a commission. No human endeavor is without error, and sometimes innocent people are unjustly punished.
Read the full editorial here. (Utica Observer-Dispatch, 02/14/07)
Eight people have been proven innocent by DNA in New York in just 13 months, Roy Brown was the most recent in January.
Exonerees Alan Newton, Doug Warney, Scott Fappiano, and Jeff Deskovic have joined the call as well. Click here for more information on innocence commissions.
The Texas legislature is also considering creating an innocence commission, read more here.
Washington lawmakers consider bill to compensate the wrongly convicted
21 States and the District of Columbia have laws on the books to compensate the wrongly convicted. Washington state is considering a law that would make it the 22nd state with such a law.
"When you're imprisoned you lose everything," said Rep. Joe McDermott, D-Seattle and sponsor of the bill. "We should have procedures in place to make someone who's been wrongfully convicted whole, in some small part."
McDermott's measure - which mirrors federal levels - would require the state to award a wrongly convicted person no less than $50,000 for each year of imprisonment, including time spent awaiting trial. An additional $50,000 would be awarded for each year on death row.Read the full story. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 02/12/07)
Read an editorial supporting this bill from today's Yakima Herald-Republic.
The bill is scheduled for a public committee hearing in Washington's House of Representatives on Feb. 20. Click here to read the bill.
Even when states do have compensation laws, they often fall far short of the federal standard for monetary amounts and don’t include critical state services. Click here to find out how your state stacks up.
Learn more about need for exoneree compensation nationwide in our Fix The System section.
View a model compensation statute.
Kentucky exoneree William Gregory recently settled a civil suit with the City of Louisville, where he was convicted.
• Georgia does not have a compensation law, but the state legislature is considering a “private bill” compensating 2005 exoneree Robert Clark.
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