What do states owe the exonerated?

A patchwork of compensation laws across the country has meant widely varying reentry experiences for each of the 201 people exonerated after spending years in prison for crimes they didn't commit . An article in today's Christian Science Montior examines the disparity nationwide and the need for more consistency.

"We are exonerating people who did not commit crimes, spent two decades in prison or time on death row, and when they get out, there are fewer reentry services for these people than for individuals who actually committed crimes," says Barry Scheck, codirector of the Innocence Project at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, which is dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted. "It's a measure of decency."

Read the full article here

. (Christian Science Monitor, 5/30/07)

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compensation laws nationwide

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map of compensation laws

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