Louisiana lawmakers unanimously agreed to increase the number of years a wrongfully incarcerated person could receive compensation in the most recent legislative session.
But it was among the handful of bills Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed.
The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senator Gerald Boudreaux, would have increased the maximum compensation period to 15 years from 10 years. Four years ago, the maximum annual compensation for exonerees increased from $25,000 to $40,000.
Boudreaux said he was inspired to sponsor the bill after meeting with Innocence & Justice Louisiana.
“I felt the calling to see what more can we do,” he said. “ If we were wrongly convicted and 30 years of our lives were taken away from us and we finally were released, where would we be?”
When the bill was presented in committee, exonerees and their family members testified about how a wrongful conviction and years of incarceration changed the course of their lives.
Greg Bright spent 27 and a half years in Angola on a murder charge that was later overturned. He’s only received compensation for 10 years.
“ It's just really heartbreaking. Not only for me, but for the guys that depended on that,” Bright said. “It's just unthinkable that the governor would do something like that.”
At age 70, Bright is left with little Social Security because he was behind bars during his prime wage-earning years. He said he picks up jobs where he can, but he also knows the limitations of his age. He also worries about losing his home.
According to World Population Review, Louisiana has the second-highest incarceration rate in the nation. It also has the second-highest rate of known wrongful convictions, according to the legal aid group Innocence & Justice Louisiana. Of the exonerees in Louisiana, nearly one-third have spent more than 25 years in prison.
Bright is among them.
“ This is something that's real, and people need to be compensated for it,” he said. “Your whole life is destroyed.”
The bill received bipartisan support despite efforts to squash it. When the bill reached the House, Republican Rep. Charles Owen testified about a friend who was wrongly convicted.
“I saw recommendations on that bill that day from several conservative entities who were against it, and I said, ‘Y'all are gonna need to stop and listen,’” he said. “And they did, to their credit; they all did.”
But while it received unanimous support, Gov. Landry ultimately disagreed.
In his veto message, Landry said he couldn’t support a bill to increase potential payouts while families are struggling with rising costs and teachers did not receive the permanent pay raise they deserve.
The extra years of compensation would have cost the state less than $2 million for the 10 exonerees who spent more than a decade in prison.
Rep. Owen said he feels the governor was misinformed about the bill.
“I know he has the authority to do this, and I respect his decisions, but I would really love to talk to him about this and the gravity of this and what signal this sends to people who've been wronged by the government,” said Owen.
Meanwhile, state Attorney General Liz Murrill has also fought payouts to some exonerees she believes are guilty — despite asking for compensation for herself for legal fees stemming from her now-dropped indictment for alleged public intimidation.
Considering what he’s been through, Bright said Murrill’s claim is ironic.
“ I mean, the first thing out of her mouth was what it's cost. What it's gonna cost her,” he said. “But I lost my entire life. All my 20s, all my 30s, seven and a half years of my 40s for a murder I had absolutely nothing to do with.”
Despite Landry’s veto, supporters say they still believe exonerees like Bright deserve more compensation. Sen. Boudreaux said he hasn’t decided if he’ll try to pass the bill again, but Rep. Owen said he’s considering it.
Bright said he’s hopeful lawmakers will vote unanimously again.
“Sometimes it takes divine intervention for things to happen, and that's what I'm hoping,” he said.
But ultimately it’s the governor’s decision.
In the meantime, Innocence & Justice Louisiana has started a donation drive.
