Innocence Blog

February 26, 2007

Florida exonerees wait for compensation

Twenty-one states have laws compensating the wrongly convicted after their release. Few of these states, however, parallel the federal government’s standard of $50,000 per year of wrongful incarceration. A new bill pending in Florida would meet this monetary standard and provide funds for state education.

Alan Crotzer hopes this will be the year the Florida Legislature passes a bill to compensate people like him: He was wrongfully imprisoned for 24 years for a brutal armed robbery and rape in Tampa. DNA testing eventually cleared him.

Crotzer walked empty-handed from prison on Jan. 23, 2006. He wasn't offered rent vouchers or job referrals, like the guilty inmates who complete their sentences.

Neither was he eligible for prerelease transition services — training on how to reenter society, job counseling and psychological assistance that inmates are given in the months before their release.

Read the full story here. (Miami Herald, 02/26/07)

Of the six Florida men exonerated by DNA evidence since 2001, only Wilton Dedge has been compensated. He received a settlement after the state legislature passed a private bill to compensate him. Compensation bills have been introduced twice before in the Florida legislature but both died in committee.

• Does your state compensate the wrongly convicted? View a map here.

• Fix the System: Exoneree Compensation

Innocence organizations provide hands-on experience for law students nationwide

An article today in Law Crossing explores the role of law students at the Innocence Project and at three other members of the Innocence Network – the Arizona Justice Project, Georgia Innocence Project and California & Hawaii Innocence Project. All four organizations are clinics affiliated with law schools, where law students, supervised by attorneys, work on actual criminal appeals and filings.

The Innocence Project is affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Teaching assistant and third-year law student Gregory Weiss told Law Crossing why he enjoys the working with the Innocence Project:

"It has been the greatest experience of law school, by far…I think many people are in my position where they go to law school because they really want to proactively make a difference, and they think this is a great opportunity to gain the knowledge and the skill to be able to better their community. Having these types of clinics really allows you to do that, as opposed to just have your head buried in textbooks 24 hours a day. So it's been an amazing experience and keeps the inspiration and motivation alive for why I went to law school in the first place."

Read the full story here. (Law Crossing, 02/26/07)
The Georgia State Legislature has recognized Cliff Williams, a third-year law student at Georgia State University, for his work in freeing Pete Williams, who was wrongly convicted and served more than 22 years. Read the resolution here.

National Public Radio story on Dallas DA’s move to review 352 cases

Read or listen to Friday’s NPR story on DA Craig Watkins’ historic move to partner with the Texas Innocence Project in reviewing hundreds of cases for possible testing.

Read our previous blog entries on this issue.

 

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