Georgia criminal defense attorney Alicia Luncheon is calling for nationwide reform of compensation laws for wrongfully convicted individuals, arguing that legal remedies for exonerees remain inconsistent across the United States and often depend more on geography than legal principle.
In a recently posted social media video promoting a petition campaign created in partnership with Change.org, Luncheon criticized what she described as a fragmented compensation system that leaves some exonerees without any statutory financial relief after release.
“Your rights should not depend on your zip code,” Luncheon said in the video, framing the issue as one of legal uniformity and equal treatment.
According to Luncheon, approximately a dozen states currently provide no compensation to individuals who were wrongfully imprisoned and later exonerated. Under such systems, a person who spent decades incarcerated for a crime they did not commit could leave prison without statutory financial assistance.
The attorney pointed to recent changes in Georgia law as a potential model for broader reform efforts. Under the measure she referenced, wrongfully convicted individuals may receive $75,000 for each year of incarceration and $100,000 annually for individuals wrongfully sentenced to death.
The issue of compensation for wrongful convictions has long produced significant variation across jurisdictions. While some states calculate compensation on a per-year basis, others impose overall statutory caps that critics argue fail to reflect the practical and economic consequences of prolonged incarceration.
Luncheon highlighted examples in which total compensation limits can amount to comparatively small annual values when spread across years of imprisonment.
“Some states that do have compensation laws cap it at $50,000 total—not per year, total,” she said.
Compensation statutes for exonerees generally seek to address financial losses stemming from wrongful incarceration, including lost wages, interrupted careers, diminished earning capacity, housing instability, and difficulties accessing healthcare and social services after release. However, legal advocates have argued that current frameworks vary widely in scope and adequacy.
The petition launched by Luncheon calls for all states to adopt compensation measures comparable to Georgia’s approach and urges Congress to establish a federal baseline standard governing compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
The proposal touches on broader legal questions regarding post-exoneration remedies and whether relief for wrongfully convicted individuals should remain a matter of state discretion or become subject to more uniform national standards.
As policymakers continue to debate criminal justice reform measures, compensation for the wrongfully convicted remains an area where legal outcomes can differ sharply across jurisdictions—raising ongoing questions about the extent of the state’s obligation after a wrongful deprivation of liberty.
