Wrongful Imprisonment NON-compensation

[Spexxvet]

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

I think it would cost less, in the long run, to have some kind of compensation schedule: OK, we stole X number of years of your life, wrongly, let's help you get back on your feet with X number of dollars.

It's not like making a mistake with their taxes or something.

Or, we could get more sue-crazy.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I'm not sure that I agree that anyone who is exonerated after the fact should be compensated for the time they were in prison. They should if there's law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct, but if the cops and prosecuters do their jobs ethically, and the individual is defended adequately and convicted by a jury, I'm not sure that tax dollars should be given to the person for the mistake. Could he sue individual cops, lawyers, and jurors, or the person who is eventually (hopefully) convicted?

I am sure honest mistakes can happen, but too often the DA is under pressure to solve the crime quickly and get another quilty verdict to notch up come re-election time. Cops have been known to fixate on the first suspect whom they investigate who looks good for the crime to the exclusion of anyone else, including the real murderer.

It's not like making a typing error or something. When a person is wrongfully acquiited, something went badly wrong with the system somewhere, and, in addition, the real criminal is still at large - no doubt waltzing around committing further crimes.

"Good enough" should not be the standard for the US Justice System. Victims of a mis-carriage of justice should be compensated as a matter of course.

[kerosene]

This makes me think of this local case (not for the faint of heart!). He did successfully sue the city, though for their error.