Editorial Calls on Kentucky to Compensate Recent Exoneree

12.28.11

Kerry Porter, who was exonerated just before Christmas this year, 

was reportedly given only a winter jacket and a pair of sweats 

after 14 years of wrongful imprisonment by the State of Kentucky. 

Because Kentucky doesn’t have a law compensating the wrongfully 

convicted, Porter would have to sue in order to receive any 

financial support. Only about half of the states have compensation 

laws and about 40% of the 283 people exonerated through DNA testing 

have never been compensated. The Courier Journal writes:

 

Given all that has happened, and the spot of his first night’s 

sleep in his mother’s home, Mr. Porter’s freedom must seem like a 

gift — an unexpected one at that — but that view ignores the theft 

of 14 years of his life. “New evidence” that persuaded prosecutors 

and other officials to dismiss Mr. Porter’s conviction (and to try 

to bring Mr. Camp’s real murderer to justice) and to release him 

“immediately and without delay” demonstrates those years were not 

for the taking.

Read the full article

here

.

See if your state has a compensation law with our

interactive map

.

Read about how the Kentucky Innocence Project helped free 

Porter in the

2011 Innocence Network report

.

 

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