• North Carolina will give $750,000 each to two wrongly convicted men who spent three decades in priso
    39 replies, posted
Source: [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/09/02/north-carolina-will-give-750000-each-to-two-wrongly-convicted-men-who-spent-three-decades-in-prison/[/url] [quote] They spent three decades behind bars for a crime they did not commit before they were declared innocent, released and pardoned. Now, the state of North Carolina has agreed to pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation. Henry McCollum and his half-brother Leon Brown were each awarded $750,000 in compensation on Wednesday, exactly a year after a judge vacated their convictions, dismissed all charges and ordered the state to free them. An attorney for the men said they were awarded the money as well as educational benefits from the state. [/quote] $750k for 30 years? Not enough in my opinion. Someone needs to uncap that. Only amounts to $2500 for each year they were in prison for something they didn't do. (Not counting the educational benefits which at their age, won't do that much)
[QUOTE=agentfazexx;48602015] $750k for 30 years? ... Only amounts to $2500 for each year they were in prison for something they didn't do. [/QUOTE] Might want to check your math there. It's $25,000 a year
[QUOTE]While in prison, both McCollum and Brown were bullied and brutally attacked by other inmates, which caused Brown to develop “severe and permanent mental illness,” according to a lawsuit that Patrick Megaro, an attorney for both brothers, brought against local authorities.[/QUOTE]Yeah, 750k really isn't enough. Their lives have been ruined by the state
$750,000 is fucking nothing for taking 30 years away from someone.
[QUOTE=Pw0nageXD;48602057]Might want to check your math there. It's $25,000 a year[/QUOTE] The irony here is that it's actually $250,000
[QUOTE=stewsta;48602149]The irony here is that it's actually $250,000[/QUOTE] ???
[QUOTE=stewsta;48602149]The irony here is that it's actually $250,000[/QUOTE] How so? I'm pretty sure 750,000/30 is 25,000.
[QUOTE=Pw0nageXD;48602057]Might want to check your math there. It's $25,000 a year[/QUOTE] Oops. Still doesn't cover it.
Yeah... That's great and all, but that will never replace the amount of life they have spent in jail.
Taking nearly half of their life away on wrongful convictions and you give them a fucking cash prize to attempt and repay 30 years of bullshit? Fuck off
At least they won't have to work anymore, but I'd still ask for more myself.
No amount of money could possibly make up for 30 years
[QUOTE=ghghop;48602238]Taking nearly half of their life away on wrongful convictions and you give them a fucking cash prize to attempt and repay 30 years of bullshit? Fuck off[/QUOTE] What exactly should they do then? Just let them out and say sorry and go on their way? No, at least they got cash so they can buy a home, a car, clothing and other things they need. They're also getting education benefits. I don't know what else should be gone. What has happened is fucked up, but what else can be done?
You know what's better than nothing? Something.
TBH, they should probably get more like $2 million each, and free education in anything they want.
[QUOTE=Colour;48602345]You know what's better than nothing? Something.[/QUOTE] Except they were in prison for 30 years. Stupid argument.
[QUOTE=agentfazexx;48602373]Except they were in prison for 30 years. Stupid argument.[/QUOTE] No the stupid argument is arguing over whether 750k is "enough" Time has no value apart from what we put on it. There is no set "value" on it. They're lucky to get anything at all because there been have many others who have received nothing, let alone being released at all. Focus should be on why this was allowed to happen for 30 yrs in the first place.
[QUOTE=Colour;48602389]No the stupid argument is arguing over whether 750k is "enough" Time has no value apart from what we put on it. There is no set "value" on it. They're lucky to get anything at all because there been have many others who have received nothing, let alone being released at all. Focus should be on why this was allowed to happen for 30 yrs in the first place.[/QUOTE] If they're being given money in the first place, why make it such a small amount? Sure, shit happened...fix that. But I mean the guys need to be given an appropriate amount of money.
[QUOTE=agentfazexx;48602425]Sure, shit happened...fix that. [B]appropriate amount[/B][/quote] First off.. Fix that? What're they doing? Sweeping it under the rug by throwing money at it? Do you realize how many inmates are still being held falsely? How many will never see a dollar or a day of freedom? (From the article, 125 were exonerated last year, I don't see their 750k settlements in the news?) Secondly, "No value." Time has no MONETARY value. What you think is "appropriate" is different from everyone elses appropriate. For all you know these men could see this money as a blessing from above that they never would've otherwise seen. Did a terrible thing happen? Yes. Will it continue to happen? Yes. The difference is that these guys and their families are taking away something tangible that most won't. That's the difference.
Fix it meaning fix our broken prison/justice system. In the mean time, these guys deserve [I]something[/I] for losing 30 years of their lives.
[QUOTE=agentfazexx;48602478]In the mean time, these guys deserve [I]something[/I] for losing 30 years of their lives.[/QUOTE] $750,000 USD for the accused and their families along with education benefits. Each. Not even gonna get started on how them reviewing cases and actually allowing unlawfully convicted people to go free with compensation isn't a start on fixing anything. There is legislation that says those wrongfully convicted in some states in America are entitled up to 50,000 per year of wrongful conviction. These guys are getting 25,000 a year. I still fail to see how this can possibly be seen as "nothing" or even close to it.
[QUOTE=Colour;48602448]First off.. Fix that? What're they doing? Sweeping it under the rug by throwing money at it? Do you realize how many inmates are still being held falsely? How many will never see a dollar or a day of freedom? (From the article, 125 were exonerated last year, I don't see their 750k settlements in the news?) Secondly, "No value." Time has no MONETARY value. What you think is "appropriate" is different from everyone elses appropriate. For all you know these men could see this money as a blessing from above that they never would've otherwise seen. Did a terrible thing happen? Yes. Will it continue to happen? Yes. The difference is that these guys and their families are taking away something tangible that most won't. That's the difference.[/QUOTE] Legally, that's not quite true. People often sue when they get injured or unjustly taken out of work for lost wages. If they had jobs, then their time was valuable monetarily because they could have spent it doing work. But they might not have had jobs. They were teenagers. Still, the amount of money is important. Like it or not, the world runs on money. By forcing the state to pay out large settlements, they have a vested interest in keeping problems like this from happening. If the settlements are too low, it might be more cost effective to not worry about how much money is invested into the justice system. They might not spend as much money on investigations or lower the salaries for investigators and judges, having the exact effect you don't want; making things like this happen more often. If you don't have to pay inmates that get exonerated after spending time in prison, why would the government care? They wouldn't. 750k might be better than nothing, but don't act like arguing about how much the state should pay is stupid.
[QUOTE=Colour;48602483]$750,000 USD for the accused and their families along with education benefits. Each. Not even gonna get started on how them reviewing cases and actually allowing unlawfully convicted people to go free with compensation isn't a start on fixing anything. There is legislation that says those wrongfully convicted in some states in America are entitled up to 50,000 per year of wrongful conviction. These guys are getting 25,000 a year. I still fail to see how this can possibly be seen as "nothing" or even close to it.[/QUOTE] I don't think they're saying that it isn't a good thing that the state is paying them, but $750k in the grand scheme of things is barely worth a fraction of the time they spent away from the world. The more I worked and started realizing the real value of money, the more I realized that getting a million dollars (or in this case 3/4) isn't as big of a treasure as I thought it was given the amount of money that the standard of living costs these days. When you are put in prison for 30 years, that is time you can't get back and you can't be expected to just hop back into the world and make up for that lost time. I look at it this way. Would they have spent those 30 years living off of welfare? Some would say that that would probably be the case so they made out "alright." That time though was potential that they could have done so much more with their lives that $750k can't make up for, but it is an easy number to write a check for and to make this whole thing go away. I still don't think it is right.
[QUOTE=Ltp0wer;48602544]750k might be better than nothing, but don't act like arguing about how much the state should pay is stupid.[/QUOTE] Except they gave them an amount perfectly reasonable within the documented limit for people exonerated. Their state, literally, has plans for this shit and they followed it. It just seems like everyone doesn't think it's enough because they didn't get the maximum amount or close to it. They got half of it. Not 40%, not 60%. They are allowed up to 50,000 and they received 25,000 per year spent. ed: "North Carolina law states that someone who is pardoned after being imprisoned can ask the North Carolina Industrial Commission for compensation due to “erroneous conviction and imprisonment,” though it caps the compensation at $750,000.". So they got the maximum amount of money they could get legally without trying for more in a court (or they did and failed, I don't know.)
[QUOTE=Colour;48602572]Except they gave them an amount perfectly reasonable within the documented limit for people exonerated. Their state, literally, has plans for this shit and they followed it. It just seems like everyone doesn't think it's enough because they didn't get the maximum amount or close to it. They got half of it. Not 40%, not 60%. They are allowed up to 50,000 and they received 25,000 per year spent. ed: "North Carolina law states that someone who is pardoned after being imprisoned can ask the North Carolina Industrial Commission for compensation due to “erroneous conviction and imprisonment,” though it caps the compensation at $750,000.". So they got the maximum amount of money they could get legally without trying for more in a court (or they did and failed, I don't know.)[/QUOTE] Yeah, here's the law: [URL]http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_148/Article_8.pdf[/URL] But how do we know when the applicable parts were passed/edited (genuinely asking, no idea how to date law. I see a date at the end that says 2010, but not sure what changed or how to look that up)? If those standards were set in 1997, then damn right getting half isn't enough. In March 2015, quite a lot of members of the NC congress sponsored a [URL="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=h398"]bill that would have DOUBLED[/URL] the limit. It passed the first reading but didn't get looked at again by the committee on appropriations so the bill basically died. Why didn't it get looked at, who knows, but if that had been passed, which it very well could have, then giving these men 50% would have been double. So I guess even some lawmakers in the state agree that they should have been paid more.
[QUOTE=Pw0nageXD;48602057]Might want to check your math there. It's $25,000 a year[/QUOTE] Don't forget the money the state spent to imprison them. It costs about $20,000 a year, so really they're getting around $45,000 a year in total.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;48602774]Don't forget the money the state spent to imprison them. It costs about $20,000 a year, so really they're getting around $45,000 a year in total.[/QUOTE] For being in a horrible place for no reason. Still not enough.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;48602774]Don't forget the money the state spent to imprison them. It costs about $20,000 a year, so really they're getting around $45,000 a year in total.[/QUOTE] They aren't getting paid the money that was spent to imprison them though, they are just getting 750k. Unless you're suggesting that the money spent on them while they were held against their will should be counted toward their erroneous conviction compensation? What?
[QUOTE=Ltp0wer;48602839]They aren't getting paid the money that was spent to imprison them though, they are just getting 750k. Unless you're suggesting that the money spent on them while they were held against their will should be counted toward their erroneous conviction compensation? What?[/QUOTE] Maybe he's saying they got free food/shelter for the 30 years? I dunno. Shit argument if he is.
Honestly no amount can repay for ruining their lives but there isn't enough money you can take from taxes to pay millions of dollars that goes towards other public services.
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