State fails wrongly convicted prisoners

LA Times on the FAJ report:

California does a bad job of compensating people wrongfully convicted in its courts, a blue ribbon commission said Friday. Men and women imprisoned for years, even decades, for crimes they didn't commit are offered fewer benefits than convicts released on parole, the commission said.

The lack of compensation for wrongly convicted people is a problem outside CA as well.

Two recommendations:

* People who gave false confessions or forced guilty pleas be allowed to seek a court determination of factual innocence, the gateway to compensation.

In many cases that the Innocence Project has proved innocence there was a false confession made. Like eye witness accounts, confessions are not a sure sign of guilt like most people consider them.

* The deadline for a wrongfully convicted person to sue his trial lawyer for malpractice should be pushed back. The commission said the recent case of Peter Rose, who was wrongfully convicted of the kidnap and rape of a 13-year old girl in November 1995, demonstrates the need for this reform.

Good start, but why not hold the prosecution responsible as well? We know prosecutors will trump up charges to force a deal even when the evidence is lacking. Why should they get a pass?