Week 4: What happens after exoneration?

I've been talking a lot about the process of post-conviction litigation and subsequent exonerations, but there's an important question inherent in the nature of this discussion: after an exoneree has been freed, what happens to them? Where do they go? What do their lives look like? This week, I'd like to look at some of those questions with guidance from the course I've been taking on the Innocence Movement.

Lisa Roberts hugs defense attorney Steven Wax after being released from an Oregon prison. Lisa served 10 years on a manslaughter charge before she was exonerated. 

Lack of Assistance
After individuals are exonerated, the criminal justice system terminates its relationship with that individual. That means the individual is given no resources other than a used pair of clothes and shoes--not even a ride from the prison. Many exonerees are thus often released with no support, and are faced with finding shelter, securing a job, getting a drivers license and SSN, and other tasks in order to rebuild the life that was taken from them.

Lack of healthcare is huge issue for exonerees. Many are in desperate need of healthcare after poor prison care (dental, medical), and many more also need mental healthcare, often to address issues of post traumatic stress.

Many exonerees struggle to attain employment because although job applications ask if you've ever been convicted of a felony, they do not ask if you were subsequently exonerated or allow for any explanation. Therefore, in lots of cases, exonerees are automatically excluded from the job pool. Many exonerees also lack educational opportunities.

See the Statement on Exoneree Rights released by the Innocence Network here.

Compensation
Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have wrongful conviction compensation statutes, but many of these statutes are toothless, and none of these statutes provide immediate relief. Furthermore, these statutes often do not adjust compensation for the amount of time that was served and instead use cap systems. Exonerees can pursue civil suits against the state and individuals responsible for their incarceration. However, these suits are difficult because they're time-consuming, expensive, and often many police officers, judges or prosecutors are granted immunity.

Compensation statutes differ in substance based on state. Some states offer money, others education. Compensation statutes also differ procedurally, insofar as what an exoneree must do in what time frame to qualify for compensation. For example, in California, exonerees can receive up to $100 for every day they were wrongfully convicted. However, over the past five or so years, the board in charge of allotting this compensation has denied most compensation claims.

Sources of Assistance
Recognizing the extreme barriers faced by exonerees in their attempts to reenter society, some organizations have formed to try to ease this transition. Life After Innocence is one of such programs, headquartered at the Loyola University School of Law. The Life After Innocence clinic provides occupational training, educational opportunities, legal resources, housing assistance, and countless other resources to help exonerees reenter society and "reclaim their rights as citizens", emphasizing "hand-ups not hand-outs."