NC lawmakers approve compensation increase

The North Carolina legislature voted Friday to increase the compensation paid to the exonerated after their release to $50,000 per year served, from $20,000. The bill, which would increase the maximum payment to $750,000 and bring North Carolina in line with the federal standard for an annual compensation amount, now goes to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature. The bill also includes critical services for men and women released from prison after serving years for crimes they didn't commit. They could receive a year of job training and tuition at a state college or university.

"What I want to you to think about is if your child were accused of a crime and were sent to prison as Dwayne Dail and others have been," Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Carrboro Democrat, told her colleagues in the Senate.

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. (News Observer, 07/19/08)

Pictured above:

Dwayne Dail

served 18 years in North Carolina prison for a crime he didn't commit before his exoneration last year. He received $370,000 in compensation earlier this year, but will now be eligible for an additional $380,000.