_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act Becomes Law
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After more than a decade of work by legislators and legal advocates, Governor Rick Snyder signed the Wrongful incarceration Compensation Act into law on February 14, giving those convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit the right to financial compensation and reentry services.
"Innocent people should not be penalized for mistakes in the justice system," Senator Steven Bieda, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement after the measure passed. "This legislation at least helps them pick up the pieces of their lives."
Bieda joined wrongly convicted individuals and their advocates in Lansing for a ceremonial signing of the bill and a reception hosted by the WMU-Cooley Law School's Innocence Project in Lansing.
The law, which took effect March 29, allows those wrongly convicted and imprisoned of crimes to receive $50,000 for each year of incarceration. Compensation is not automatic; claimants must file a petition for compensation in the Court of Claims. Exonerees are also eligible for housing for up to one year following the date of discharge and the same reentry services parolees receive.
"Both the reentry services and the compensation award will help our clients get back on their feet," said WMU-Cooley Innocence Project Director Marla Mitchell-Cichon. "No amount of money can make them whole, but it's a start."