Don't make the innocent beg for justice
January 28, 2008
http://www.newsjournalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN75012808.htm
Alan Crotzer deserved better treatment from Florida's criminal court
system. He spent 24 years in prison for a rape and robbery he did not
commit. And when DNA evidence finally freed him, he deserved better than
the treatment he got from the state. He had no job skills, no way to
support himself, little help with readjusting to a life outside of a
concrete cage.
Crotzer deserves better treatment from the Florida Legislature. In the
spring session, he'll appear in committee rooms to tell his story and
ask for compensation. The state has already taken away a significant
chunk of his life -- when he was sentenced, Crotzer had every reason to
think he would die behind bars. The state took his chance to watch his
daughter grow up. The state took his chance to say goodbye to his mother.
The state shouldn't take his dignity as well. Nor should it deprive
other men and women who may be exonerated.
Money can't make up the horror an innocent person feels after walking
into prison for the first time, or repair the gaps in an unjustly
interrupted life -- but it can provide the means to build a new life
with what's left. It's tough to train a former inmate to sleep through
the night or to stop looking over his shoulder, but the state can -- and
should -- give exonerated people access to counseling programs designed
to ease their transition back into society.
Years in prison can have a marked impact on a person's physical health
-- the state should help with health care. For many innocent prisoners,
the world has changed dramatically since they were last free -- the
state should provide assistance with simple tasks like opening a bank
account or driving a car.
For the third year running, lawmakers have a bill before them that would
provide just compensation and aid for people freed from prison after
proving their innocence. The proposal is relatively modest: $100,000 for
every year spent wrongly incarcerated, plus tuition at a state
university or college. Lawmakers should add provisions for health care
and transition services -- as many states have done -- and then approve
the legislation, making it easier for people who are exonerated to start
the process of getting their lives on track. Twenty-three states already
have similar laws.
In previous years, this legislation has run aground on petty issues.
Some lawmakers insisted that people who are exonerated after pleading
guilty or no-contest shouldn't be eligible for compensation -- but
innocent is innocent, and many people plead guilty to offenses they
didn't commit in exchange for more lenient sentences. Other legislators
quibbled about the amount: Last year, the bill proposed $50,000 a year
for compensation. Either sum would be fairer than the current system,
which requires each exoneree to go begging to the Legislature.
Gov. Charlie Crist and Senate President Ken Pruitt have said they
support justice for Crotzer, and for those who will follow him. Other
leaders should follow suit. It's shameful that lawmakers have taken this
long to act, and they should wait no longer.
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Oh, Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins." - Old Indian Prayer My dad told me!! |
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