Kansas bill now offers wrongly imprisoned benefits, but less money

by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee say Kansans wrongly convicted of crimes deserve to be compensated by the state. The panel amended and advanced a bill Monday that would do that using more than just cash.

Right now, Kansas pays nothing automatically to people imprisoned on botched convictions. People in that situation can use lawsuits to seek payments, but the bill in the legislature would create a system for compensation without a legal fight.

Republican Sen. Molly Baumgardner suggested trimming the proposed payments in the plan from $80,000 for each year spent in jail to $50,000, because that’s what the federal government pays.

“You cannot give these folks their years back,” Baumgardner said. “I thought that was a good start.”

Lawmakers last week heard about the challenges people face after being wrongly convicted of crimes. They had lost time with their families and everything they owned. After being released from prison, they were left broke with no credit or work history.

“It’s an uphill battle,” said Floyd Bledsoe, who spent 16 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit. “It’s a day-to-day battle.”

To take a more holistic approach to helping people like Bledsoe, Baumgardner pushed for boosting services available to them. Her amendments added other support such as health care coverage and college tuition.

“We are going to be there for you, including education and health care,” Baumgardner said. “That’s better than just saying ‘here’s some financial compensation.’”

Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., said money should be provided as soon as possible to people who were wrongly imprisoned, not in a series of yearly payments. The plan would start with a $100,000 payment and the rest would be paid out annually. A court could choose to offer a single lump sum payment if that’s deemed appropriate.

Haley also has concerns about reducing the amount people receive for each year they were wrongly imprisoned.

“Those years are stolen,” Haley said. “It’s undercompensated at $50,000.”

However, Haley called his concerns “nitpicking” compared to the steps the bill takes toward helping people convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.

“I’m so happy after a decade we are really, finally doing something,” Haley said. “It’s a great start.”

The proposal could come up for consideration in the Senate this week as lawmakers debate dozens of bills to beat a legislative deadline.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

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KCKCC gives up just one hit but loses rain-shortened game, 3-2

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Eastfield Community College managed just one hit Sunday but it was enough for a 3-2 rain-shortened win over Kansas City Kansas Community College in Fort Worth, Texas.

Rain stopped the contest in the bottom of the fifth inning, leaving KCKCC with a four-game split in the Blue Devils’ annual spring trip and a 2-3 record heading into home doubleheaders with Northeast Nebraska Saturday and Sunday. Both twin bills will start at noon.

Sunday’s loss was something of a microcosm of what was scheduled to be a five-game Texas series – stingy pitching but too many bases on balls and fielding miscues. Eastfield scored all three of its runs in the first inning.

After back-to-back walks started the inning, Eastfield scored one run on a wild pitch, another on a two-out single and the third on a two-base outfield error. Orlando Ortiz took the loss, striking out six and walking six in four innings.

In 27 innings in Texas, KCKCC pitchers allowed just 13 hits. However, they also gave up 20 walks and hit five batters while the defense was guilty of nine errors.

“Our pitchers have thrown the ball pretty well but they need to be more consistent in throwing strikes,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said. “And we need to make plays for them.”

Both KCKCC runs were also unearned. The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the first when Josh Schumacher reached on an error and scored on Corey Combs’ one-out ground ball.

Schumacher again reached first on an error in the third, moved up on Brigham Mooney’s bunt single and scored on Tyler Pittman’s sacrifice fly. KCKCC managed only two other hits, singles by Pittman and Kevin Santiago although the Blue Devils had runners on in every inning.

Ironically, the game was started 15 minutes early because of the threat of rain. Had it started on time, it would not have been a complete game and KCKCC charged with a loss.

“The perfect storm (for Eastfield),” Goldbeck said. “But then we only scored one run in the first inning after the first two runners reached base and then dropped a fly ball with two out in the bottom of the inning to let them score the third run.”