It’s Time for Kentucky to Compensate the Wrongfully Convicted
Johnetta Carr at the 2024 Innocence Network Conference in New Orleans (Image: Claire Bangser/Innocence Project).
Help wrongfully convicted Kentuckians get the financial justice they deserve.
Johnetta Carr was just 16 years old when she was prosecuted as an adult and wrongfully convicted of killing her boyfriend. She spent 13 years in prison and on parole, despite the fact that she had an alibi confirmed by multiple people. It was not until 2019 that Johnetta was pardoned on the grounds of innocence due to exculpatory DNA evidence discovered by the Kentucky Innocence Project.
Unfortunately, for exonerees like Johnetta, the nightmare didn’t end there. Innocent Kentuckians who are robbed of their liberty and lose years, sometimes decades, of their lives face a number of challenges that impact their ability to survive, including lack of health care and housing, as well as years of lost income and missed educational and career opportunities.
Right now, Kentucky is one of only 13 states that does not offer compensation to wrongfully convicted people, leaving the more than 20 Kentuckians who have lost a combined total of 200 years of freedom waiting.
It’s time to correct this injustice: Kentucky needs a universal framework to provide much-needed financial compensation and support services to eligible exonerees.
Sign the petition above to urge lawmakers to pass long-awaited legislation that would provide financial justice to innocent Kentuckians.
This campaign is in partnership with the Kentucky Innocence Project.