Issue Position: Eliminating Wrongful Convictions

Issue Position

More than 40 former Texas inmates have been proved innocent through DNA testing. The "Tim Cole Act" was named for a young Fort Worth man who was wrongly convicted and died in prison. HB 1736 increases the lump-sum payments to exonerees from $50,000 to $80,000 for every year of confinement and grants an annuity to provide income for the rest of their lives, as well as tuition at a public college or career center. The state can't give Cole his life back, but we can try to correct the injustices and assist innocent people in reclaiming their lives.

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