Illinois ups wrongful conviction payouts, including for juveniles

By Judith Ruiz-Branch

People who were wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois could see larger payouts under a newly signed law which raises the compensation cap.

Illinois has the most exonerations of any state, according to the Registry of Exonerations. A new provision also makes children who were wrongfully convicted in juvenile court eligible to receive reparation.

Josh Tepfer, an attorney and executive director of the Exoneration Project, said youth were previously excluded by a technical gap in the prior statute.

“There’s just loads and loads of examples of individuals in Illinois who spent literally decades, up to 40 years in prison, for crimes that they were innocent of,” Tepfer explained. “This just gets Illinois consistent with states in providing some sort of adequate compensation for these horrific injustices.”

The new law raises the cap to $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment and eliminates the overall $300,000 limit, including time in jail or juvenile detention before a false conviction.

Experts said the state’s compensation rate has lagged far behind the national average. The typical payout for a wrongful conviction in Illinois was about $11,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment.

Tepfer noted while the government provides reentry support and resources for people who were rightfully convicted and serve their time, there is a critical gap for those who are exonerated.

“There is literally nothing that the government does to help those individuals,” Tepfer emphasized. “They’re put on a bus and say ‘go home’ once the system says, ‘Sorry, we got it wrong.’ So what this does, at least in theory, is give people some sort of real resources where they can patch their life together.”

Tepfer added historically, it has been even worse for juveniles. Tepfer pointed to the Ronald Watts police corruption scandal, which saw hundreds of people wrongfully convicted over nearly a decade. Those who were juveniles at the time never qualified for compensation under the law.

“The only distinguishing feature for them not getting compensation from the state was that they were 16 years or younger, and that’s just awful,” Tepfer underscored. “The fact that this legislation passed gives some hope to those clients who now can petition to get their certificates of innocence that they’ve always deserved.”

Exonerees must have received a certificate of innocence or have been pardoned by the governor and have never received a previous payout to qualify.

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