GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Status

Working

Abstract

In 2025, three states passed new wrongful conviction compensation statutes: Arizona, Delaware, and Georgia. They are a diverse group. These states lie in the West, East and South. Delaware is led by a Democratic governor and legislature, while Georgia’s are Republican. Arizona has a Democratic governor, but both houses of the state legislature have Republican majorities. Delaware has just four exonerees listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. Arizona has 25 and Georgia 52. Before passing its statute, Georgia had the second most exonerees (behind Pennsylvania) in a state without a statute.

Given these varying backgrounds, one might expect substantial differences among the statutes. There are some differences, but the statutes more fundamentally reflect a fairly strong bipartisan view that wrongful conviction compensation statutes are necessary and advance important societal interests. They reflect the belief that there are wrongful convictions, that they harm exonerees in profound and incalculable ways, and that the wrongly convicted deserve compensation from the state to address that harm.

GW Paper Series

2025-55

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