Reforms Move Forward in Texas

An editorial in yesterday’s Dallas Morning News calls for quick passage of a bill in the Texas Senate that would increase the compensation paid to exonerees after their release. The new bill would increase the maximum amount paid by the state to the exonerated to

$80,000 per year served for a wrongful conviction, and includes the option of monthly annuity payments for life. The bill, named for deceased exoneree Timothy Cole, passed the House last week and is currently pending in the Senate. From the editorial:

Without this measure, the state will continue committing a double injustice to these people – once for their wrongful imprisonment and again for the failure to help them rebuild their lives once they're set free. Two wrongs make the Timothy Cole Act the right thing to do.

Read the full editorial here

. (Dallas Morning News, 4/28/09)

The Austin American-Statesman joined this week with an editorial of its own

.

Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are also considering requiring law enforcement departments in the state to adopt written procedures for eyewitness identification. Exoneree Johnnie Lindsey recently testified on behalf of this effort –

watch a video featuring Lindsey here

.