Sponsors
The bill increases and protects compensation for wrongfully convicted people, improving their long-term financial stability, at the cost of higher federal expenditures and ongoing administrative obligations for taxpayers and government agencies.
Exonerees (wrongfully convicted individuals), especially low-income people, would receive a higher statutory minimum compensation — $70,000 instead of $50,000 — increasing the financial remedy for wrongful convictions.
Award amounts would be indexed to inflation so compensation keeps pace with cost-of-living increases, preserving the real value of awards over time.
Higher, inflation-protected awards reduce the likelihood that exonerees' compensation is eroded over years, improving immediate financial stability and prospects for successful reentry into society.
Raising the statutory minimum and indexing awards will increase federal spending on compensation for wrongful convictions, which could raise costs borne by taxpayers.
Annual inflation indexing creates an ongoing budgetary obligation and additional administrative workload for the federal entity responsible for paying and adjusting awards.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Raises the federal minimum award for unjust conviction and imprisonment from $50,000 to $70,000 and requires annual CPI-based inflation adjustments.
Introduced September 19, 2025 by Maxine Waters · Last progress September 19, 2025
Increases the federal minimum payment for people who were unjustly convicted and imprisoned from $50,000 to $70,000 and requires that the award amount be adjusted upward each year for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The annual CPI adjustment is to begin after the law is enacted, so future awards will keep pace with inflation. The change amends the federal statute that governs compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment, raising the baseline payment and making it an annually indexed amount. That increases expected federal outlays for these awards and boosts the real value of payments to exonerees over time.