In the majority of cases, the exonerated receive no compensation for the years they lost to wrongful imprisonment. Thirty states have no law on the books providing compensation for the wrongfully convicted. In the remaining jurisdictions, compensation laws for the most part provide only a modest amount of monetary compensation, no social services, and erect procedural barriers that few exonerated people manage to work their way through.
The other alternative for the wrongfully convicted seeking monetary compensation is civil litigation. Because police and prosecutors are in most instances granted immunity from civil suits by the wrongfully convicted, few exonerees have viable claims against those involved in their wrongful conviction.
Exonerees face a host of legal problems that get in the way of rebuilding a life on the outside. Even after they win release on grounds of innocence, there is no automatic expungement of the wrongful conviction from the exoneree’s criminal record. As a result, exonerees applying for jobs or housing are often disqualified after a background check reveals their past conviction.
A LAEP survey of exonerees nationwide showed that nearly all emerge from prison with no assets, many having spent their life savings (and that of their family) on the legal battle to win their freedom. A third lost custody of a child during (and because of) wrongful conviction. As a result, many exonerees need on-going legal assistance with matters such as bankruptcy and child custody.
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