| Renoir, Self Portrait, 1910 |
Yet the wrongfully convicted in Florida are not being compensated. Four years ago Florida passed a law granting compensation for those wrongfully convicted by Florida Courts and Prosecutors. How much is wrongfully taking someone's freedom worth? Not much if you're unlucky enough to be wrongfully convicted in Florida, as only three people have received any compensation, according to press reports.
This is true because Florida requires that the wrongfully convicted have clean hands with no prior record whatsoever for any compensation. Twenty-two people have been exonerated from murder charges since 1972, hundreds have been exonerated from other convictions. all that should matter is whether there has been a false conviction, if so there should be compensation for that wrongful conviction as a matter of fairness. Here is a comparison of how other states compensate for wrongful convictions and arguments on why there should be compensation for wrongful convictions.
Your Clearwater Criminal Defense Lawyer is reluctant to tell how much compensation the wrongfully convicted receive as the folks who read this Blog are apt to get themselves arrested and convicted in the belief that I'll find new evidence, get the conviction reversed and sell the movie rights, all for a law that pays $50,000 per year incarcerated with a cap of two million dollars. Forget the crime just write the screenplay and we'll split the money.
