Wrongfully convicted man gets $175,000 for 13 years in prison - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]It took two decades for Thomas Webb III to get Oklahoma authorities to pay for the nightmarish years he spent in prison for a rape he didn't commit. The state finally agreed this week to write him a check for $175,000, according to his lawyers. The payout is the maximum amount Oklahoma law allows people who have been wrongfully convicted to collect. That is what is supposed to make up for his 13 years of incarceration ─ the lost wages and potential, the separation from family and friends, the time he'll never get back ─ and the psychological trauma that thrust him into addiction and homelessness after he was released. And he's not allowed to ask for anything more. But Webb says he will gladly sign the paperwork. Simply getting the state to pay him, and in doing so acknowledge its mistakes, is enough to give him some comfort. "For the first time, the state of Oklahoma has accepted the fact that I have been wronged," Webb, 56, said Wednesday. "That gives me closure, a feeling that justice, in my frame of reference, has been done, that amends have been made." Convicted in 1983 of raping a student at the University of Oklahoma, Webb was exonerated in 1996 by DNA evidence that pointed to someone else ─ and proved that the victim had mistakenly identified him. He came home to a wife who'd married him behind bars and spearheaded his appeal. He found a well-paid job in computers. But his untreated emotional wounds led him to drink heavily. While they struggled, Webb and his wife, Gail, lobbied for changes to the state Tort Claims Act that would allow compensation for people who had been wrongly convicted and imprisoned. Lawmakers twice passed a measure, and twice the governor vetoed it. Finally, in 2003, under a new administration, it became law, but the state capped payments at $175,000. The law is stingy. Some states allow for millions in compensation. But several don't provide for any such payments. Webb was happy for the opportunity. He applied, and was denied. Instead of appealing, Webb gave up. He turned to drugs, became homeless and divorced.[/quote] [url]http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wrongfully-convicted-man-gets-175-000-13-years-prison-n730796[/url] And he's considered lucky: [img]http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_10/1926976/compensation_for_the_exonerated_no_compensation_compensation_chartbuilder_1_241cb6652075cc3249d98c58151d6fdf.nbcnews-ux-600-480.png[/img]

Only slightly bizarre that almost a third of the states don't offer compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

I hope he is able to utilize that money to get some sense of normalcy back in his life.

I'm so glad this dude got his life back on tracks after all of that bullshit.

Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936049]Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.[/QUOTE] Honestly, I'd put it at 100k per year minimum.

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936049]Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.[/QUOTE]It's hard to determine what the "right" amount would be, but this does indeed feel very meager given what a colossal fuck up it is

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936049]Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.[/QUOTE] It most certainly is, those 13 years are irreplaceable. But it's better than nothing.

[QUOTE=Flubbman;51936063]It's hard to determine what the "right" amount would be, but this does indeed feel very meager given what a colossal fuck up it is[/QUOTE] This is the equivalent of if he was making $13k a year during those years. And that's not even considering how much of his life he essentially missed out on and the fact that he was, ya know, in prison.

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936049]Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.[/QUOTE] Especially considering they're willing to shell out ~$30k/year to [i]imprison him[/i] and yet when they've fucked up he only gets $13.4k/year? Fucking absurd.

You'd think given how egregiously rare these wrongful convictions are, they could afford to pay a generous sum. I wonder if it had to do with the financial situation of the local government?

They stole 13 years of his life. I'd say $175k is a very small amount in comparison.

[QUOTE=Limed00d;51936108]They stole 13 years of his life. I'd say $175k is a very small amount in comparison.[/QUOTE] Agreed. It would be like some one asking "Would you like $175k to die 13 years sooner?" It's such a huge loss of time. I'm happy that the guy got his life back together, and was compensated in some way. I personally would have a hard time accepting this as fair if it were me.

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936049]Am I the only one that thinks 175k for 13 years in prison is lacking? Genuinely, my view might be skewed here.[/QUOTE] He should be getting at least 13 million (and a financial manager to help him manage the money properly). He's been out of society for 13 years. And he didn't even get 200,000 dollars for all the pain he went through? Fucking ridiculous.

I'm not sure, but anyone who get wrongfully imprisoned here in Switzerland get (not sure, again) about 500'000 CHF per year he spent in prison. In comparision, this look like a bad joke...

If anything they should give you the states minimum annual living wage x years of wrongful imprisonment. At least be compensated for the amount of potential labor you could have been providing for yourself, and family. So if we did the math the minimum living wage in Oklahoma is $9.87 x 2,080 hours of a full time US employee annually. we will get $20,529.6 x 13 years = $266,884.8 It's the LEAST he deserves. I realize inflation changes the math, but oh well.

[QUOTE=VprVajraRpv;51936191]I'm not sure, but anyone who get wrongfully imprisoned here in Switzerland get (not sure, again) about 500'000 CHF per year he spent in prison. In comparision, this look like a bad joke...[/QUOTE] The US sort of is a joke when compared to most European countries tbh

What a small amount of money. Disgusting bureaucratic cheapskates.

[QUOTE=Mr. J;51936125]Agreed. [b]It would be like some one asking "Would you like $175k to die 13 years sooner?"[/b] It's such a huge loss of time. I'm happy that the guy got his life back together, and was compensated in some way. I personally would have a hard time accepting this as fair if it were me.[/QUOTE] It's even worse than that, since in your analogy you lose years at the end of your life, when you're old and weak. He got jailed at 43. This is more like "Would you like $175k, but you're suddenly 56?". Even that is a light comparison since I'm omitting the 13 years of isolation.

[QUOTE=Segab;51936278]It's even worse than that, since in your analogy you lose years at the end of your life, when you're old and weak. He got jailed at 43. This is more like "Would you like $175k, but you're suddenly 56?". Even that is a light comparison since I'm omitting the 13 years of isolation.[/QUOTE] Right.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;51936003]Only slightly bizarre that almost a third of the states don't offer compensation for wrongful imprisonment.[/QUOTE] I'm surprised my home of Alabama does. We're kind of retarded here. Well, like a 5:1 ratio of retard:human

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936097]You'd think given how egregiously rare these wrongful convictions are, they could afford to pay a generous sum. I wonder if it had to do with the financial situation of the local government?[/QUOTE] The state paid it as far as I can tell. It's the cap the state set on payouts, you can be imprisoned for 40 years and still get the same amount. [editline]9th March 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=ZakkShock;51936327]I'm surprised my home of Alabama does. We're kind of retarded here. Well, like a 5:1 ratio of retard:human[/QUOTE] More surprised at Mississippi tbh [editline]9th March 2017[/editline] And the fact that Oregon doesn't

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;51936003]Only slightly bizarre that almost a third of the states don't offer compensation for wrongful imprisonment.[/QUOTE] "Our fault but nah fuck you"

[QUOTE=J!NX;51936369]"Our fault but nah fuck you"[/QUOTE] Don't forget it's only half the fault of the state. They build the case, but 12 unaffiliated peers constitute the conviction. What a strange notion. Can you imagine serving on jury duty and then getting slapped with a lawsuit when the conviction is fully reversed?

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936408]Don't forget it's only half the fault of the state. They build the case, but 12 unaffiliated peers constitute the conviction. What a strange notion. Can you imagine serving on jury duty and then getting slapped with a lawsuit when the conviction is fully reversed?[/QUOTE] Why would you be slapped with a lawsuit? The jury is not being sued. The jury cannot be punished for their verdict, under any circumstances.

What a pathetic amount. At the bare minimum he should receive the average household income(which is $56,000) for each year he was wrongly held.

[QUOTE=Sonador;51936408]Don't forget it's only half the fault of the state. They build the case, but 12 unaffiliated peers constitute the conviction. What a strange notion. Can you imagine serving on jury duty and then getting slapped with a lawsuit when the conviction is fully reversed?[/QUOTE] Well I mean, assuming your case is in the very, very small minority that actually goes to trial. Otherwise it is pretty much entirely the fault of the state.

There really is no compensation for losing 13 years of your life.

Sounds more like the amount of money he should receive for any single one of those years.

Lost wages would be closer to 500k over 13 years but at least he got some compensation. I see they are doing it based on minimum wage in the US, that sucks. [editline]9th March 2017[/editline] And counting emotional damage and years of life experience lost, he deserves a million dollars [U]at least[/U].