Tag Archives: exoneree compensation

A provision to deny compensation to a wrongfully convicted person if he or she had a previous felony or violent misdemeanor record does not have the support of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. In fact, his office will advocate against it. The measure was submitted by his staff but he did not see or approve the restriction. In a Columbus Dispatch article here, DeWine said, “This doesn’t make sense to me.”

Governor Kasich’s spokesman said that the governor’s office would not oppose removal of the proposal from the massive budget bill.

Thanks to Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Governor John Kasich for their positions on the removal of this provision, and to Ohio Innocence Director Mark Godsey for speaking out forcefully against it, noting the difficulty exonerees often have in getting compensation for years spent in prison for crimes they did not commit, “It’s too difficult as it is, ” Godsey said. “There’s only a few that have been able to do it.”