Wrongful Incarceration Measure Backed
The bill (SB 130) would make changes to a Florida law that allows compensation for people exonerated after being convicted of crimes.
The 2008 law also includes what is known as a 'clean hands' provision that makes exonerees who were previously convicted of certain felonies ineligible for the compensation.
Senate bill sponsor Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, told the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee that 18 exonerees who collectively spent more than 300 years behind bars have been denied compensation since the law was passed in 2008, due to their previous convictions.
'Just to be clear, this bill is not about having strong penalties against criminals who commit bad acts in our state. This bill is with regard to people who have been exonerated, who have been found factually innocent by the original sentencing court. That's the universe of folks we're talking about. This bill rights that wrong and gets them the compensation that's deserved when the state gets it wrong,' Bradley said before the committee approved the measure in a 6-2 vote.
Florida is the only state with a wrongful incarceration compensation program that excludes people with prior felonies, a restriction that makes the vast majority of exonerees in the state ineligible for payments.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 91 people in Florida have been exonerated since 1989. Five of those exonerees have received compensation.
Under the current law, exonerees found innocent by the court that convicted them are eligible for $50,000 for each year they served in prison.
The compensation is capped at $2 million. Exonerees who are ineligible for the compensation program may seek payment from the state through the legislative 'claim bill' process, which also requires review by a special master.
The process can take years and typically requires the assistance of lobbyists and lawyers.
The bill also would extend from 90 days to two years a deadline for exonerees to seek compensation from the state and set up a process for people who receive compensation to repay the state if they receive civil settlements.
Bradley's bill must clear one more committee before the full Senate could vote on it.
A House panel last month approved a similar measure (HB 59) sponsored by Rep. Traci Koster, R-Tampa.
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