U.S. must pay $101M to wrongly imprisoned men

[PatriotOne]

U.S. must pay $101M to wrongly imprisoned men

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday ordered the government to pay more than $101 million in the case of four men who spent decades in prison for a 1965 murder they didn't commit after the FBI withheld evidence of their innocence.

The FBI encouraged perjury, helped frame the four men and withheld for more than three decades information that could have cleared them, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said in issuing her ruling Thursday.

Rest here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/07/26/wrongful.convictions.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[trispear]

Instead of punishing the tax payers (so severely), why not go after the men (if any still alive) who did the framing and the ones who helped perpetuate the lie so that their sentences went to such a ridiculous extreme.

To be sure, these men deserve some monetary compensation, but there is no getting back all those years, and this isn't justice for either side - the ones who did it won't get reprimanded at the FBI couldn't care less at the end of the day because it's the taxpayer who gets hurt and has to pick up the pieces.

If I were the one of the innocents that went to jail, I'd want to see the bastard who knowingly wrongly imprisoned me behind bars, one day for each day he stole from the others - even.... especially if it means the rest of his life. There is no excusing that.

[Hamburglar]

Any sort of civil servant that withholds evidence of someone's innocence needs to get life in prison. That being said, the victims need to be compensated. I purpose taking the 101 million directly out of the FBI and CIA's budget.

[trispear]

Or the pension/retirement fund of anyone connected with it.

[buffalokid777]

Or the pension/retirement fund of anyone connected with it.

BINGO!

[hard@work]

I wonder how much this nation has lost in false imprisonment. I wonder how much it has cost us in money, both in housing and in losing the productivity of a good citizen that decided to smoke pot instead of drink or smoke tobacco (or maybe does all three).

But no matter that amount I know there is no amount of money that covers the costs of the pain created by the loss of a family member to the state prison system. Waging a war on our own people for half a century?

This 101 million is a pittance.

[BillyBeer]

What a disgrace. And people wonder why some dont trust the government.

[BillyBeer]

Any sort of civil servant that withholds evidence of someone's innocence needs to get life in prison. That being said, the victims need to be compensated. I purpose taking the 101 million directly out of the FBI and CIA's budget.

I will go one step further. Any civil servant that withholds evidence in a capital punishment case that could exonerate a person on death row needs to get the death penalty.