Editorial: Florida compensation law falls short

An editorial in yesterday’s Orlando Sentinel says that Florida lawmakers didn’t go far enough when crafting the state’s new law compensating the wrongfully convicted upon exoneration. The bill would pay some exonerees $50,000 per year served, but it excludes anyone with a prior felony conviction. The Innocence Project has called this provision a “fatal flaw,” and the Orlando Sentinel agrees, calling it unfair.

It's not as if giving automatic compensation to these people would cost the state a lot. Only nine Floridians have been freed by DNA evidence. But seven won't qualify for automatic compensation because of that provision.

There's a chance to make it right during the next session by eliminating that clause. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.

Read the full editorial here

. (Orlando Sentinel, 05/31/08)

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