Window on the West
Opinion column
by Mary Rupert
A compromise measure that would grant $65,000 a year to those who have been wrongfully incarcerated has unanimously passed both houses of the Kansas Legislature.
The bill passed both houses after a Senate bill calling for $50,000 a year and a House bill favoring $80,000 a year went through a conference committee, and a compromise was reached. Now that the bill has passed, it will go to the governor for a signature.
“This is a significant moment and a great day for justice here in Kansas,” said Alvin Sykes, a human rights activist in Kansas City, Kansas, who had earlier testified in favor of the bill.
During testimony Sykes said it was wrong for the state to convict innocent people and then put them out of the street after years of incarceration without any financial support or compensation to restart their lives.
He said he had been working 10 years on getting this legislation passed. Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., has been a supporter of the bill for years. Also supporting the bill in the Senate this year was Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Republican.
“As the solo advocate until 2018 for compensation for the wrongfully incarcerated, I authored and sponsored several bills over the last decade horrified by several examples of these miscarriages,” Sen. Haley stated in the Senate Journal in an explanation of his vote. “Though a long time in coming, I join in the pride we should all share in its unanimous passage.”
Sen. Haley and Sykes also believe that in the future, a bill should be passed that would hold individuals financially responsible who knowingly contributed to the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. That is not a part of the law just passed.
Persons who have been wrongfully convicted in the past will have until July 1, 2020, to file claims for compensation with the state, Sykes said.
Those who are eligible to receive compensation will receive either a $100,000 lump sum or 25 percent lump sum, whichever is greater, and after that the remainder of the funds will be paid out through annuities at a maximum rate of $80,000 a year, he said. However, courts will still have authority on how the funds are paid out, he added.
There is also a provision for health benefits and for an opportunity to receive a college education.
“Very few people would trade places to get this amount, after what they have lost,” Sykes said. Besides not being able to work and earn an income, those wrongfully convicted have lost years of their freedom and family lives.
This past year, the public learned of the wrongful conviction of Floyd Bledsoe, Richard Jones and Lamonte McIntyre. When the Innocence Project became involved, the personal stories touched the hearts of legislators.
In some cases, DNA testing not available in earlier years has been used to prove an individual did not do a crime and was wrongfully convicted.
The new legislation requires proof that a person was wrongfully convicted, Sykes said. It would not apply to persons whose convictions were overturned because their constitutional rights were violated, he added. It may be a large hurdle for some to overcome, but there are people who have been proven to be innocent through programs such as the Innocence Project.
Sykes said he knew this would become law when the time was right.
“And the time was right today,” he said.
The bill that passed was a revised version of House Bill 2579 and Senate Bill 336.
To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].