Government
Bill would compensate wrongfully convicted prisoners
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By COLLIN KRIZMANICH
Capital News Service
LANSING — There’s no way for a state to give back time — sometimes decades — to people who served in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. Most states do offer money to compensate people who manage to prove their innocence — but Michigan isn’t one of them. Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, aims to change this. Thirty states across the country compensate people who are wrongly convicted. But Michigan exonerees not only go uncompensated, they also are denied access to services available to parolees who were rightfully convicted.