Overturned Conviction Marks 100th Death Penalty Exoneration
from the oh,-gee,-sorry-about-that dept.
The LA Times has the story of an Arizona man who has been freed from prison after DNA evidence showed he could not have committed the murder for which he had been convicted and sentenced to death. Death penalty foes say this marks the 100th time since the death penalty was revived in the mid 1970s that a person sentenced to death has subsequently been found to have been wrongly convicted. Ouch. So, anyway, sorry about the 10 years you spent in prison and the messed up life and all that, but hey, it could have been worse, right?
November 9th, 2004 at 5:03 pm
what legal recourse, if any, does an individual have in such circumstances? does the government do anything to compensate such individuals, or at least ensure that they re-enter society on an equal or better socioeconomic footing than when they were taken out of it?
November 9th, 2004 at 5:09 pm
Not that I’m aware of. From what I understand, they give you back whatever you had with you when they locked you up, and send you on your way.
November 29th, 2004 at 6:21 am
well, you don’t have any kind of legal justice on your behalf; you are just left outside in the cold. the only things you get back are personal possesions, and of coursse the money you made if you worked or that was left on your goods,etc. When they send you back out into society they are still watching you to see if you do anything little , so they can put you back where socity and the justice system believes you belong.