Sponsors
The bill improves financial relief and inflation protection for wrongfully convicted people but increases and makes more unpredictable the fiscal obligations borne by governments and taxpayers.
Wrongfully convicted people (and their families) will receive a higher minimum federal compensation award—$70,000 instead of $50,000—providing more immediate financial relief upon exoneration.
Compensation awards will be adjusted annually for inflation (CPI), preserving the real value of awards over time so exonerees do not lose purchasing power.
Raising the baseline award and indexing it to CPI will increase government payout obligations, potentially raising costs for federal and state budgets and, ultimately, taxpayers.
Automatic annual increases introduce year-to-year unpredictability and could complicate budgeting for courts and state governments responsible for paying awards.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced September 19, 2025 by Maxine Waters · Last progress September 19, 2025
Increases the minimum federal payment for people who were unjustly convicted and imprisoned from $50,000 to $70,000 and requires that the statutory minimum be adjusted each year for inflation using the Consumer Price Index. One section gives the act a short title; the other amends the federal wrongful-conviction damages law to raise the base award and add annual CPI adjustments.