While searching for a classmate's article to comment on I came across an article in Bob Law's Law blog about a bill that increases the amount of restitution paid to wrongly convicted individuals that serve prison sentences. Under the current laws wrongly convicted individual are only compensated $50,000 per year of prison they serve, the new law would pay $80,000 per year along with some other benefits.
I completely agree with my classmate in supporting this bill, however i believe our government should pay even more. If an individual can sue McDonald's for millions of dollars when they spill hot coffee on themselves one time, imagine how much someone should get for spending countless years in prison for nothing. A coffee burn is a temporary thing, however a prison sentence might last for a decade or more.
When my classmate states "it would be much better if the DA's who are responsible for the convictions were also held accountable in some way," it brings to mind a question. How did the wrongful conviction happen? If there was foul play involved then yes I agree, the district attorney that is responsible should be punished. However if they are wrongly convicted because the evidence at the time demonstrates that they are guilty then I would have to say that nothing should happen. It is the district attorney's job to present a case proving someones guilt, if that is what the evidence points to at that time then they should not be punished for doing their job.
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