Today, the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee will consider Senate Bill 291, a law providing compensation for wrongfully convicted Michigan citizens. Senator Steve Bieda (D-Warren) introduced the legislation that will create the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act.
“It was my intent to help these individuals who were wrongly convicted re-establish their lives,” said Bieda. “When an individual is proven innocent they should find a state that wants to help them, not another legal battle.”
House Bill 5815, which provides re-entry services to exonerees, will also be heard by the committee. Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Innocence Project director Marla Mitchell-Cichon and her clients Kenneth Wyniemko and Donya Davis, both exonerees, will be present at today’s committee hearing to support both bills.
Senate Bill 291 provides compensation to an individual convicted and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit, with damages calculated based upon the number of years of their wrongful incarceration. Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government provide compensation to the wrongfully convicted.
Mitchell-Cichon is optimistic about SB 291 becoming law. “The Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act has been a long time in the making, she said. “When the state puts an innocent man or woman behind bars, the state has an obligation to financially support the person’s reintegration into society. You can never give them back the lost years, but you can do what is just and right.” If voted out of committee, the bill would become law after a favorable vote by the Michigan House of Representatives.
Kenneth Wyniemko was released after nine years in prison and Davis after seven years. In each of their cases, DNA testing was used to prove their innocence. Wynimeko has testified numerous times in support of the proposed law and is a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform.
The WMU-Cooley Innocence Project is part of the Innocence Network, which has been credited with the release of over 344 wrongfully convicted individuals, mainly through the use of DNA testing. WMU-Cooley’s Innocence Project has exonerated three men: Wyniemko, Davis, and Nathaniel Hatchett.
Hearings on the two bills will take place today before the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee, Room 327, House Office Building.
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