The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a state law that can require wrongfully imprisoned people to pay back damages they've been awarded by the state.
The Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act lets a wrongly convicted person, under certain conditions, sue the state for money for their time in prison. The law provides for $50,000 per year of imprisonment. But it also requires exonerees to repay that money if another party also pays damages for the same wrongful conviction or imprisonment.
“An award of compensation under this act is subject to setoff or reimbursement for damages obtained for the wrongful conviction or imprisonment from any other person,” the law reads.
In the appeals case, a man and his daughters won a $7.5 million federal settlement against the city of Detroit after he was already awarded around $1.2 million from the state.
His lawyers argued he shouldn’t have to pay the state back because the law was unconstitutionally vague. They claimed the law didn’t fully explain what counted as awarded damages, which parties it applied to, and to what extent reimbursement is required.
The appellate court disagreed with each argument.
“There is no basis in the statute to conclude that defendant may obtain reimbursement from damages obtained by third parties relating to the WICA plaintiff’s wrongful imprisonment,” the court’s opinion read.
The decision upholds a lower court ruling issued last January.
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