Compensating people who are wrongfully convicted is a hard sell in some states
ATLANTA (AP) — Earlier this year, Michael Woolfolk attended a legislative committee in Georgia where lawmakers considered for a third year whether to compensate the 45-year-old for the 19 years he spent behind bars for a 2002 killing before charges against him were dismissed.
Behind him sat Daryl Lee Clark, also 45, who spent 25 years in prison for a 1998 murder conviction that was vacated over a series of legal and police errors. It was his second attempt to obtain compensation.
Georgia is one of 11 states with no law on compensating people found to have been wrongfully convicted. Individuals seeking compensation take their cases to the legislature, where they seek a lawmaker to sponsor a resolution to pay them. Critics say it mires the process in politics.
Lawmakers have been considering legislation to move the decision to judges, but now it's unclear if that will pass this year.
'We need to take care simply of people who have lost so many years of their lives and their ability to make money, have a job, have a family, create stability,' Republican Rep. Katie Dempsey, a sponsor of the Georgia bill, told The Associated Press. 'Many are at the age where they would be looking at their savings, and instead, there's none.'
Missouri lawmakers have sent the governor a bill updating the state's compensation law, and legislatures in Florida and Oregon also are considering updates of their laws. Montana is considering an update of its expired program and Pennsylvania is among those, like Georgia, looking to create one.
A tricky process
Of the 1,739 people who have filed wrongful compensation claims under state laws since 1989, 1,328 received compensation, according to data from George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Gutman.
That doesn't include cases in states like Georgia, which has no law outlining a process.
Since 1995, 12 Georgians have received compensation and at least 11 more have sought it, according to the Georgia Innocence Project. Even some people with strong cases were turned down because they failed to convince lawmakers they were innocent, advocates say.
The latest version of Georgia's proposal would require individuals to prove their innocence to an administrative law judge. They could receive $75,000 for each year of incarceration and reimbursement for other costs such as fines and fees. There would be an additional $25,000 for each year of incarceration awaiting a death sentence.
'The way that the state has treated these individuals by taking away their freedom and liberty and effectively ruining their lives, by wrongfully convicting them and then failing to expeditiously compensate them and help them get back on their feet, doesn't sit well with me,' said Democratic Rep. Scott Holcomb, a bill sponsor and former prosecutor.
Whether a person was released based on a finding they were not guilty or based on trial or law enforcement error is often a sticking point. Advocates say those wrongfully convicted deserve compensation either way because they are innocent until proven guilty, but some lawmakers are hesitant to pay them.
Senate Majority Whip Randy Robertson, a former sheriff's deputy, was the lead opponent last year of individual requests for compensation and an effort to pass a compensation law. He takes issue with the term 'exonerated,' which he says is too often used in cases where convictions are overturned based on trial errors.
Robertson this year introduced a different compensation bill with stricter rules that didn't get a hearing.
Other states consider changes
Florida is the only state that prevents exonerees with previous felony convictions from qualifying for compensation, according to an analysis by the advocacy group The Innocence Project.
Florida Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley wants to change that. For the third year she is sponsoring a bill to end the rule, arguing that an unrelated charge should not prevent people who were wronged by the state from being compensated for their 'lost liberty.'
A bill in the Oregon Legislature would update a law passed in 2022 that provides exonerees $65,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned, on the condition they file a successful petition proving their innocence. The new bill comes amid criticism that few exonerees have received compensation since the law took effect.
Missouri's legislature recently passed and sent to the governor a measure expanding a restitution program for people wrongly convicted of felonies. The legislation would raise compensation from $100 to $179 per day of imprisonment and remove a requirement that innocence is proven by DNA analysis.
Many Georgia lawmakers have said they don't want to play judge and hope the state process changes.
If the legislature doesn't pass a bill before adjourning April 4, Woolfolk and Clark may not be compensated this year. The House overwhelmingly approved five requests that could fail in the Senate.
Starting a career at 45 is hard, Woolfolk said, and he missed his children's upbringing. He said he is sick of trying to convince lawmakers to help him.
Clark, who does not have children, got a standing ovation from House lawmakers last year who voted to compensate him.
This year, his 'hope and prayers' are that he also gains some help.
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Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
A hillside of white crosses fuels a misleading story about South Africa's farm killings
MOKOPANE, South Africa (AP) — The white crosses are staked in the ground on an otherwise barren hillside on the edge of a farm, each one standing as a reminder of a terrible story of a person being killed. But the crosses, nearly 3,000 of them, do not tell the full story of South Africa's farm killings. The Witkruis Monument — which means White Cross Monument in the language spoken by South Africa's white Afrikaner minority — is a memorial only to white people who were killed on farms over the last three decades. It's a visceral snapshot seized on by some South Africans to drive a discredited narrative that white farmers in the majority Black country are being targeted in a widespread, race-based system of persecution. The false narrative has also been spread by conservative commentators in the United States and elsewhere — and amplified by South African-born Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump. Last month, Trump escalated the rhetoric, using the term 'genocide' to describe violence against white farmers. The South African government and experts who have studied farm killings have publicly denounced the misinformation spread by Trump and others. Even the caretaker of Witkruis says the monument — which makes no reference to the hundreds of Black South African farmers and farmworkers who have been killed — does not tell the complete story. The killings of farmers and farmworkers, regardless of race, are a tiny percentage of the country's high level of crime , and they typically occur during armed robberies, according to available statistics and two studies carried out over the last 25 years. Yet because wealthier white people own 72% of South Africa's privately owned farms, according to census data, they are disproportionately affected by these often brutal crimes. Black people own just 4% of the country's privately owned farmland, and the rest is owned by people who are mixed race or of Indian heritage. Misinformation about farm killings has been fueled by right-wing political groups in South Africa and others outside the country, said Gareth Newman, a crime expert at the Institute for Security Studies think tank in Pretoria. Some of the fringe South African groups, which hold no official power, boycotted the country's first democratic elections in 1994, when South Africa's apartheid system of white minority rule officially ended. They have espoused a debunked theory of persecution — in a country where whites make up about 7% of the population — ever since. 'They held on to these beliefs as a way of maintaining social cohesion in their groups, making sure that they can obtain funding and support,' Newman said. 'And they were getting support from right-wing groups abroad because it fit their narrative.' A monument to white victims The Witkruis Monument was started in 2004 but recognizes victims going back to 1994. Each year, more crosses are planted to memorialize white farmers and their family members who were killed, organizers say. Recently, they've planted around 50 crosses a year. Kobus de Lange, a local Afrikaner farmer, has taken on the role of caretaker of Witkruis. He gave The Associated Press access to see the memorial, bringing along his wife and children to help tidy up the monument in the country's north, near the town of Mokopane. De Lange expressed the fear and frustration of a white farming community that feels authorities have not done enough to protect them. One of his sons wore a T-shirt with the slogan 'enough is enough' — written in their Afrikaans language — in reference to the killings. But de Lange acknowledged that the memorial does not capture the full scope of farm killings. 'It's across the board, there are Black farmers who are also attacked,' de Lange said. He said in some farm attacks, Black farmworkers are tortured by criminals for information on how to break into the main farmhouse. The Witkruis Monument would be willing to put up crosses to Black farmers and farmworkers who have been killed, but their relatives haven't requested it, he said. The monument includes memorabilia bearing the flags of conservative Afrikaner movements, symbols that are generally frowned upon because Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid government. Black farmworkers are also vulnerable From April 2023 through March 2024, there were 49 farm killings recorded by AfriForum , a white Afrikaner lobby group. That's about 0.2% of overall murders tallied by the government over the same period. The group recorded 296 farm robberies in that timeframe, or about 0.7% of all robberies. AfriForum's numbers don't include killings of Black farmers and workers, and the country's official crime statistics are not broken down by race. Black people make up more than 80% of South Africa's population of 62 million, and most victims of violent crime across South Africa are Black. But there is no public relations campaign to raise awareness about the killing of Black farmers. Across racial lines, most public outcry about crime in South Africa is over the high rates of rape and murder of women and children, which mostly takes place in cities and townships. To tamp down misinformation, South African police last month took the unprecedented step of providing a racial breakdown of farm killings during the first three months of the year. Between January and March, there were six murders on farms, down from 12 during the same period last year. One of the victims was white, the rest were Black. 'What Donald Trump is saying about whites being targeted does not exist,' said MmaNtuli Buthelezi, who lives on a farm in Normandien, a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal province. Black farmworkers also feel vulnerable, Buthelezi said. 'We don't even have small firearms. Our weapons are just a spear and a shield, and sticks we get from the woods.' Nomandien is an area where the farming community planted white crosses to raise awareness about farm killings in 2020. During a White House visit last month by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump showed a video in which he incorrectly referred to the location as a 'burial site' of slain white farmers. Also, and without evidence, Trump has accused South Africa's Black-led government of 'fueling' what he said was racially motivated violence against whites. In February, Trump issued an executive order punishing the country by banning all U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa. What is the motive for South Africa's farm killings? The Trump administration has cited a chant used by a minority Black-led political party in South Africa that has the lyrics 'shoot the farmer' as contributing to what it claims is the racially motivated killings of white farmers. Violent crimes against farmers were a problem for years before the apartheid-era chant was revived. The South African government investigated farm killings in 2003. It interviewed dozens of police detectives and other experts and concluded that robbery was the most common motive for violent crimes, including murders, that occurred on farms. A study by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2015 reached a similar conclusion. 'It is criminal individuals and groups that are targeting them because they are considered vulnerable,' said Newham, who has researched the subject for more than 15 years. 'They have things like cars, guns and laptops.' In some cases, perpetrators are former laborers who return to attack, kill and rob farm owners to settle disputes over money. In others, disgruntled former employees had returned simply for revenge, according to historical records of the National Prosecuting Authority. ___ Nqunjana reported from Normandien, South Africa. ___ More AP news on South Africa: Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
A hillside of white crosses fuels a misleading story about South Africa's farm killings
MOKOPANE, South Africa (AP) — The white crosses are staked in the ground on an otherwise barren hillside on the edge of a farm, each one standing as a reminder of a terrible story of a person being killed. But the crosses, nearly 3,000 of them, do not tell the full story of South Africa's farm killings. The Witkruis Monument — which means White Cross Monument in the language spoken by South Africa's white Afrikaner minority — is a memorial only to white people who were killed on farms over the last three decades. It's a visceral snapshot seized on by some South Africans to drive a discredited narrative that white farmers in the majority Black country are being targeted in a widespread, race-based system of persecution. The false narrative has also been spread by conservative commentators in the United States and elsewhere — and amplified by South African-born Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump. Last month, Trump escalated the rhetoric, using the term 'genocide' to describe violence against white farmers. The South African government and experts who have studied farm killings have publicly denounced the misinformation spread by Trump and others. Even the caretaker of Witkruis says the monument — which makes no reference to the hundreds of Black South African farmers and farmworkers who have been killed — does not tell the complete story. The killings of farmers and farmworkers, regardless of race, are a tiny percentage of the country's high level of crime, and they typically occur during armed robberies, according to available statistics and two studies carried out over the last 25 years. Yet because wealthier white people own 72% of South Africa's privately owned farms, according to census data, they are disproportionately affected by these often brutal crimes. Black people own just 4% of the country's privately owned farmland, and the rest is owned by people who are mixed race or of Indian heritage. Misinformation about farm killings has been fueled by right-wing political groups in South Africa and others outside the country, said Gareth Newman, a crime expert at the Institute for Security Studies think tank in Pretoria. Some of the fringe South African groups, which hold no official power, boycotted the country's first democratic elections in 1994, when South Africa's apartheid system of white minority rule officially ended. They have espoused a debunked theory of persecution — in a country where whites make up about 7% of the population — ever since. 'They held on to these beliefs as a way of maintaining social cohesion in their groups, making sure that they can obtain funding and support,' Newman said. 'And they were getting support from right-wing groups abroad because it fit their narrative.' The Witkruis Monument was started in 2004 but recognizes victims going back to 1994. Each year, more crosses are planted to memorialize white farmers and their family members who were killed, organizers say. Recently, they've planted around 50 crosses a year. Kobus de Lange, a local Afrikaner farmer, has taken on the role of caretaker of Witkruis. He gave The Associated Press access to see the memorial, bringing along his wife and children to help tidy up the monument in the country's north, near the town of Mokopane. De Lange expressed the fear and frustration of a white farming community that feels authorities have not done enough to protect them. One of his sons wore a T-shirt with the slogan 'enough is enough' — written in their Afrikaans language — in reference to the killings. But de Lange acknowledged that the memorial does not capture the full scope of farm killings. 'It's across the board, there are Black farmers who are also attacked,' de Lange said. He said in some farm attacks, Black farmworkers are tortured by criminals for information on how to break into the main farmhouse. The Witkruis Monument would be willing to put up crosses to Black farmers and farmworkers who have been killed, but their relatives haven't requested it, he said. The monument includes memorabilia bearing the flags of conservative Afrikaner movements, symbols that are generally frowned upon because Afrikaners were at the heart of the apartheid government. From April 2023 through March 2024, there were 49 farm killings recorded by AfriForum, a white Afrikaner lobby group. That's about 0.2% of overall murders tallied by the government over the same period. The group recorded 296 farm robberies in that timeframe, or about 0.7% of all robberies. AfriForum's numbers don't include killings of Black farmers and workers, and the country's official crime statistics are not broken down by race. Black people make up more than 80% of South Africa's population of 62 million, and most victims of violent crime across South Africa are Black. But there is no public relations campaign to raise awareness about the killing of Black farmers. Across racial lines, most public outcry about crime in South Africa is over the high rates of rape and murder of women and children, which mostly takes place in cities and townships. To tamp down misinformation, South African police last month took the unprecedented step of providing a racial breakdown of farm killings during the first three months of the year. Between January and March, there were six murders on farms, down from 12 during the same period last year. One of the victims was white, the rest were Black. 'What Donald Trump is saying about whites being targeted does not exist,' said MmaNtuli Buthelezi, who lives on a farm in Normandien, a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal province. Black farmworkers also feel vulnerable, Buthelezi said. 'We don't even have small firearms. Our weapons are just a spear and a shield, and sticks we get from the woods.' Nomandien is an area where the farming community planted white crosses to raise awareness about farm killings in 2020. During a White House visit last month by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump showed a video in which he incorrectly referred to the location as a 'burial site' of slain white farmers. Also, and without evidence, Trump has accused South Africa's Black-led government of 'fueling' what he said was racially motivated violence against whites. In February, Trump issued an executive order punishing the country by banning all U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa. The Trump administration has cited a chant used by a minority Black-led political party in South Africa that has the lyrics 'shoot the farmer' as contributing to what it claims is the racially motivated killings of white farmers. Violent crimes against farmers were a problem for years before the apartheid-era chant was revived. The South African government investigated farm killings in 2003. It interviewed dozens of police detectives and other experts and concluded that robbery was the most common motive for violent crimes, including murders, that occurred on farms. A study by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2015 reached a similar conclusion. 'It is criminal individuals and groups that are targeting them because they are considered vulnerable,' said Newham, who has researched the subject for more than 15 years. 'They have things like cars, guns and laptops.' In some cases, perpetrators are former laborers who return to attack, kill and rob farm owners to settle disputes over money. In others, disgruntled former employees had returned simply for revenge, according to historical records of the National Prosecuting Authority. ___ Nqunjana reported from Normandien, South Africa. ___ More AP news on South Africa:
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid
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The U.S. still beckons to the 'huddled masses' from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million. Early clues across industries — like tourism , trade , entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S. Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed. Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump's dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists , leery. Trump's global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity. 'The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,' Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. 'Basically it's like the Dirty Harry quote: 'Do you feel lucky?'' 'American Creed,' American dilemma For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth. But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans. The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the 'American Creed' developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American. Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump's grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century. There's a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled. After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience . 'Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,' Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper's magazine. 'What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.' Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what's now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia. They're still coming to America. To Trump, that's long been a problem It's hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it. Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported. Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution. But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an 'invasion,' a longstanding view. Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries . In his second term, unlike his first, he's not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump's strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment. A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump's military deployment to the city. Other countries, such as Denmark, open their doors The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world's top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it's unclear whether Trump's policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States. Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. 'International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,' said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. 'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
