Essay about Law and Federal Compensation Statute

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It’s hard to conceive of a greater injustice than being sent to prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often, but the rarity of such cases does not excuse our obligation to help mitigate the harms suffered by those who are wrongfully convicted.

Admirably, law enforcement has recognized the magnitude of these injustices, and criminal procedure and police practices have begun to evolve. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Minnesota’s efforts to compensate the wrongfully convicted for their loss of freedom and the agonies of prison life.

Today, 29 states, the District of Columbia, and the even Federal Government have statutes compensating the wrongfully convicted. Minnesota will have an opportunity to join the majority of state when legislators take up a bill that would provide local exonerees with the educational, medical, and financial resources necessary to rebuild their lives.

Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul have been working with the Minnesota Innocence project to introduce a bill that would provide monetary compensation for each year an exoneree served for a wrongful conviction. Additionally, the legislation would provide funds for lost wages, injuries suffered in prison, and educational opportunity upon release.

As a former federal prosecutor, I always regarded the federal compensation statute as recognition that even when good people do right, injustice can still occur. Similarly, the proposed Minnesota Statute is not about apportioning blame. It’s about admitting that our system of justice isn’t perfect, and that when it fails, those who suffer deserve our full support.

Koua Fong Lee is one Minnesotan who deserves this support. In 2007, Mr. Lee was wrongfully convicted of criminal vehicular homicide following an accident where his car accelerated uncontrollably and struck another vehicle. After serving almost three years, a court vacated Mr. Lee’s conviction following Toyota’s recall of Camrys like the one he had been driving.

Michael Hansen is another Minnesotan who deserves compensation. Mr. Hansen served almost seven years after being wrongfully convicted of killing his own daughter. Charges against Mr. Hansen were eventually dismissed when medical experts determined the actual cause of his daughter’s death was a fall she suffered days before her death.

Not only did neither man receive an official apology, when
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