Cashing in on Exoneration

Now, first let me say that I am all about fair play. I truly feel that people should not be imprisoned wrongfully, and if they are later proven innocent then let them out, for crying out loud. That, however, is the end of my good will.

There's a bizarre practice in Texas that pays DNA exonerees $80,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned. I would make more money in prison than I do in my job now! Throw me in the Texas pokey for a few years, and I can pay for my kids' college...or like one cat who served 23 years in the slammer, maybe I'd buy a million dollar home!

It's no big surprise that most of these cash allocations are being squandered. What money management skills are reinforced behind reinforced concrete? How many cigarettes might one trade for a comic book? We might as well give money to monkeys.

Sure, I think it's too bad that innocent folk wasted away in prison, earning degrees, lifting weights, watching television, playing on the Internet. I sure think we should give them an apology card or maybe the governor should write them a nice letter. Why on earth should they be given $80,000 a year? Is that some reflection of their would-be earning potential? When they were jailed with no skills, no prospects, etc.? If we're going to play this silly compensation game, then I believe their exoneration cash out should reflect their true earning potential, the cost of living reflecting the years they were in the pen, and the local economy.

If we're going to start paying for mistakes, literally paying for mistakes like this, when and where would this end? It seems to be an infinite fun house mirror.