Lamar Johnson, and Kevin Strickland before him, are the first two beneficiaries so far of a measure Missouri lawmakers approved two years ago giving local prosecutors an avenue to correct a grave injustice. Under the new law, a prosecutor may, at any time, file a motion for a judge to vacate or set aside a guilty verdict based on new information or evidence that clears the convicted person of wrongdoing.
That law has already helped free the two men wrongfully convicted of murder, and it was a positive step toward ensuring the integrity of the state’s criminal justice system. But Johnson and Strickland, like those who will surely be freed after them, are left holding an empty bag once they’re released from the prison cells they never should have been sent to in the first place.
Unless DNA evidence absolves an innocent person, Missouri doesn’t compensate prisoners released from custody for a crime they didn’t commit. It should. Lawmakers must act with urgency to advance bipartisian legislation currently in the state Senate that would provide restitution, housing, tuition assistance, medical care and other social services for prisoners on the wrong end of an unjust conviction.
