State Compensation for Wrongful Capital Cases in the United States -CANCELLED

• In Event: Unequal Justice: Capital Sentencing, Venue, and the Limits of Redress

Abstract

The prevalence of wrongful convictions around the world revealed the retentionists inevitably confront the issue of wrongful capital cases, whatever admitted or not. While the innocents wait for execution on death row, some of them have already executed. Despite of compensation for the miscarriage of justice in most jurisdictions, state compensations for the capital innocents in the United States are another story. The previous literatures explore the complexity of state legislation, nevertheless empirical research about the state compensation for the capital offender is rare. This study utilized the data from 245 exonerees of wrongful capital cases to explore the impact factors that whether and how state compensation was awarded to these exonerees in different states. Our analysis reveals significant disparities in compensation amounts, ranging from exceptionally high awards to zero. While legal difference among states is identified, there is no stable positive correlation between compensation amounts and the duration of imprisonment. State compensation in criminal justice is not perfect as the law promulgated and the justice claimed. This article discusses implication of compensation for the innocents and the next approach of state compensation in the United States.