Texas DNA exonerees find prosperity after prison - 80K for each year in jail

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: USA Today

DALLAS (AP) — Thomas McGowan's journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a washer and dryer.

"I'll let my girlfriend pick out the rest," said McGowan, who was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.

He and other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, soon will become instant millionaires under a new state law that took effect this week.

Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation's most generous package.

"I'm nervous and excited," said McGowan, 50. "It's something I never had, this amount of money. I didn't have any money — period."

His payday for his imprisonment — a time he described as "a nightmare," "hell" and "slavery" — should come by mid-November after the state's 45-day processing period.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-04-texas-exonerees_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

[jaxx]

1. Not much money for robbing someone of 23 years of their life.

The stigma will always be there and so will the nightmares.

[Vidar]

2. A surprisingly generous law for Texas. I applaud those who passed it.