Legislature Works To Boost Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Fund

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jailcell-32

Legislation to set aside more money for Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Fund has been approved by the state Senate. The plan also requires the Michigan Attorney General to report quarterly to the Legislature on the fund. State Representative Steven Johnson, who sponsored the legislation in the state House, says the fund lacked the money needed to compensate those who have been wrongly imprisoned by the justice system.

“We had people that we wrongfully imprisoned, and state law says that we are supposed to give them $50,000 for every year, and right now we don’t have the money for that,” Johnson said. “Right now, that fund is essentially bankrupt.”

Johnson says the plan would benefit exonerated Michiganders like Richard Phillips, who spent more than 45 years in prison after a wrongful conviction, then returned to society with no support system to help him get back on his feet. Now that the bill has passed both the House and Senate, it heads to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.