Since 1989, almost 3,000 wrongful convictions have been revealed across the nation with individuals collectively losing 25,000 years serving time for crimes they did not commit. Included in this count are the over 100 individuals who have served time in the federal system, and on average lost nine years to wrongful incarceration. 

Wanting to help remediate the significant losses experienced by exonerees, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced the Justice for Exonerees Act. The legislation would increase the maximum amount of compensation provided to exonerees in the federal criminal legal system (over which Congress has jurisdiction) by 40%. The legislation also would improve the current compensation law to increase compensation annually to account for inflation.  Finally, improving the federal law would help spur states to improve their own compensation policies. Currently, 37 states compensate the wrongfully convicted.

The Innocence Network applauds Congresswoman Waters' and supports her legislation, while acknowledging there is no amount of restitution that can ever make up for the unique losses from wrongful conviction. Today, on Wrongful Conviction Day, let's show our support for wrongfully convicted individuals and their families by calling upon Congress to improve our nation's federal compensation framework.