TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A law that allows compensation to people wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in Florida could be revised to allow some felons to be eligible.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill Friday that would change the so-called “clean hands” requirement of the compensation law.
Florida now allows compensation up to $50,000 a year for people who are proven innocent of a crime for which they were imprisoned. But anyone who committed a felony before or after the wrongful incarceration isn’t eligible.
That would change under the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Rob Bradley. A prior felony wouldn’t preclude someone from being compensated. Exceptions would be made if the person seeking compensation committed a violent felony or multiple felonies.
Only four people have been compensated under the law since it was enacted nine years go.
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