Rocky Mountain Innocence Center works for Utah compensation law

Utah is one of the 28 states lacking a law to compensate the wrongfully convicted upon their release, but the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center is working to change that. A bill that would compensate exonerees with $40,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned passed a Utah Senate interim committee this summer and is set for introduction during the 2008 session. The bill passed the House last year, but didn’t make it to a Senate vote.

Katie Monroe is the executive director of the RMIC, which is affiliated with University of Utah’s law school. She said the compensation bill’s success will rely on a unique partnership with prosecutors.

The center teamed with the Utah Attorney General's Office to promote the bill – a partnership Monroe called nearly unprecedented.

"We were able to bring two seemingly opposing sides to find the middle ground," she said. "I think that's incredible."

Read the full story here

. (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/26/07)

Read more about compensation laws nationwide

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Visit a special New York Times interactive feature, published on Sunday, on the lives of exonerees after they are released

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