Philadelphia to pay $4.15M to man over wrongful conviction

submitted by Nemacolin from apnews.com

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Undiscovered 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

172k a year to sit in prison for 24 years lol. Only he knows if it was worth it I guess.

Of course he is saying:

It’s a happy moment for me. It’s been a long hard fight,” Thomas, speaking of the settlement, told KYW-AM. Thomas told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he’s not bitter, adding: “This is just life, and this is the hand I was dealt.”

[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Some states have fairly standard payouts. Texas is one.

I do not recall the numbers, but basically they call you in and say, OK if you do not get lawyers involved we will give you $XXX dollars per year in confinement. You also get lifetime free tuition at the state universities. You also get put on the same health plan as the state police. The cash will be paid out over twenty-five years. If you are convicted of a felony, the deal is off. Sign here.

Texas had learned that one massive payout was often wasted, so they went to annual payments.

Any amount of cash seems inadequate, but what else can be done?

==eta==

Apparently $80K per year. I found an article.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/10/23/rebuilding-after-prison-texas-has-spent-109-million-on-the-wrongfully-convicted/