Kentucky Once Again Failed to Pass Wrongful Conviction Compensation Bill

Currently, only eleven states—including Kentucky—do not provide compensation to individuals who have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

I work with a legal aid specialist Scot G. at Green River Prison, corresponding with and supporting inmate Norm Barassi, who has spent over 11 years behind bars and is likely innocent, especially after his District Attorney was disbarred.

Scot G. shared his perspective: “It didn’t surprise me at all that the Kentucky Senate rejected the wrongful incarceration compensation bill SB 131. It just reinforces what I’ve come to realize—very few people seem to care if innocent citizens are unjustly imprisoned and their lives destroyed. The authorities—Commonwealth Attorneys, Attorney General's Office, Circuit Judges, and others—will do whatever it takes to keep an innocent person in prison, and hardly anyone seems to care.”

Note: On average, wrongfully convicted individuals spend 9 years in prison, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. For those exonerated through DNA evidence, the average time climbs to 14 years, as reported by the Innocence Project.