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Restitution for the Exonerated Act of 2009 |
The Restitution for the Exonerated Act of 2009 (H.R. 2095), federal legislation currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives, establishes a fund for services to the exonerated to help them rebuild their lives on the outside. Since 2003, the Life After Exoneration Program has been reaching out to educate Congress about the deplorable long-term consequences faced by America’s growing number of exoneree as a result of their wrongful conviction and has been urging Congress to make federal funding available for services to the exonerated.
That remedy is closer than ever. Sponsored by Representatives Payne (NJ) and Cohen (TN), H.R. 2095 currently has the support of 49 Representatives.
The Restitution for the Exonerated Act of 2009 provides two million dollars a year for four years for comprehensive services to the wrongfully convicted and exonerated, including: - Vocational and Employment Training
- Education
- Health Services
- Mental Health Services
- Housing Assistance
- Legal Assistance
- Children and Family Support
If passed, the Restitution for the Exonerated Act of 2009 will be a cornerstone for this nation’s capacity to meaningfully assist the wrongfully convicted, who are abandoned by the U.S. criminal justice system once they manage to prove their innocence and regain their freedom. Left to fend for themselves, many exonerees live in poverty today, depending on others to survive.
Join the fight to restore true freedom and dignity to those who never should have had it taken away: the wrongfully convicted.
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