Justice for Exonerees Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Justice for Exonerees Act increases compensation for people unjustly convicted and imprisoned under federal law. It amends 28 U.S.C. 2513(e) to raise the damages amount from $50,000 to $70,000, and it adds an annual inflation adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index. The bill does not create a new innocence review process; it changes the dollar value of compensation once a person qualifies for unjust-conviction damages under existing law.
Who Benefits and How
Federal exonerees benefit because the annual compensation rate for unjust imprisonment rises from $50,000 to $70,000. Wrongfully convicted people with qualifying claims benefit because future awards will not erode as quickly with inflation. Civil rights attorneys benefit from a clearer inflation-adjusted compensation benchmark when advising exoneree clients. Families of federal exonerees benefit indirectly when compensation better reflects the harm of wrongful imprisonment.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers bear the higher cost of qualifying unjust-conviction awards. Court of Federal Claims staff must apply the new $70,000 amount and annual Consumer Price Index adjustments. Justice Department litigators must account for larger potential compensation exposure in qualifying cases. Federal budget staff must estimate higher and inflation-indexed unjust-conviction liabilities.
Key Provisions
- Amends unjust-conviction compensation under 28 U.S.C. 2513 from $50,000 to $70,000.
- Requires annual Consumer Price Index inflation adjustments to compensation awards.
- Provides the higher rate within the existing federal unjust-conviction compensation framework.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Raises federal unjust-conviction compensation from $50,000 to $70,000 per year of imprisonment and requires annual Consumer Price Index inflation adjustments for future awards.
Key Policy Areas
Criminal Justice, Civil Rights, Federal Courts
Primary Purpose
Raises federal unjust-conviction compensation from $50,000 to $70,000 per year of imprisonment and requires annual Consumer Price Index inflation adjustments for future awards.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal exonerees
- Wrongfully convicted people with qualifying claims
- Civil rights attorneys
- Families of federal exonerees
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers
- Court of Federal Claims staff
- Justice Department litigators
- Federal budget staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Waters introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Wrongfully convicted people with qualifying claims
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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