Wrongful conviction compensation
A person whose conviction has been thrown out may have two separate claims. One is statutory: New York, New Jersey and Florida each have a law that compensates innocence without proof that anyone did anything wrong. Pennsylvania has none that we found as of our last check. The other is a Section 1983 lawsuit against the officers, and sometimes the city, whose misconduct caused the conviction. The statutory claim asks whether you are innocent. The federal claim asks who violated the Constitution. This page sets out both, and the public record of what other people's cases have paid.
Exoneration ends the criminal case. It does not pay for the years. Two kinds of claim can. A compensation statute pays a person because they were innocent and imprisoned, and asks no one to admit fault. A Section 1983 claim pays because a government actor violated the Constitution, by fabricating evidence, hiding evidence that helped the defense, or coercing a confession, and it has to get past the immunities that protect those actors. The two claims have different defendants, different proof and different clocks.
The wrongful conviction page covers the federal claim in depth. This page is about the money: what each state's statute provides, how the federal claim differs, and what the public record shows.
The four states
New York: Court of Claims Act § 8-b
New York's statute has the heaviest burden of proof and no ceiling. The claimant must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, four things: that they were convicted and imprisoned; that they were pardoned on the ground of innocence, or that the conviction was reversed or vacated and the charges dismissed on one of the grounds the statute lists; that they are innocent; and that they did not by their own conduct cause or bring about the conviction. A claimant who does so is awarded damages that "fairly and reasonably compensate." There is no formula and no cap. The claim is filed in the Court of Claims within two years (N.Y. Court of Claims Act § 8-b). The listed grounds matter: not every reversal qualifies, and the first job is to match the order that ended the case to the statute.
New Jersey: N.J.S.A. 52:4C-5
New Jersey uses a formula. Damages are the greater of twice the claimant's pre-incarceration annual income or $50,000 for each year of incarceration (N.J.S.A. 52:4C-5). That figure is a statutory amount, not a settlement. The other terms of the New Jersey statute, including anything it provides for time on parole, are not in our verified ledger and are not published here.
Florida: Fla. Stat. § 961.06, and the 2025 amendment
Florida pays $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration, prorated, up to a statutory cap of $2,000,000, plus a tuition waiver, reimbursement of fines and costs, and expungement (Fla. Stat. § 961.06). Both figures are statutory. Before 2025 the statute had a "clean hands" bar and a filing window of 90 days. Chapter 2025-194, effective July 1, 2025, removed the clean hands bar, lengthened the filing window from 90 days to two years, and reopened claims that had been barred (Fla. SB 130 / CS/HB 59 (2025)). A person turned away under the old rule should have the claim looked at again.
Pennsylvania: none found
We found no Pennsylvania wrongful conviction compensation statute as of our last check. Reporting through mid-2025 says bills have not passed, and we have not verified the status since then. In Pennsylvania the remedy has been the federal lawsuit. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on December 30, 2020 that the City of Philadelphia had paid more than $35 million in settlements to exonerees from 2018 to that date. Pennsylvania settlements from the public record appear below.
| State | Statute | What it pays | Filing window |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Court of Claims Act § 8-b | Damages that "fairly and reasonably compensate"; no cap; clear and convincing evidence | 2 years |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 52:4C-5 | Statutory formula: the greater of twice pre-incarceration annual income or $50,000 per year | Not published here |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. § 961.06; ch. 2025-194 | Statutory formula: $50,000 per year, prorated; statutory cap of $2,000,000; tuition waiver, fines and costs, expungement | 2 years (was 90 days before July 1, 2025) |
| Pennsylvania | None found as of our last check | Not applicable | Not applicable |
How the Section 1983 claim differs
It cannot start until the conviction is gone
A Section 1983 damages claim that would imply the invalidity of a conviction is barred unless the conviction has been reversed, expunged, invalidated or called into question by habeas (Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994)). Exoneration lifts that bar, and it also starts the clock. A fabricated-evidence claim accrues on favorable termination of the criminal case (McDonough v. Smith, 588 U.S. 109 (2019)), and for a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim, favorable termination means only that the prosecution ended without a conviction (Thompson v. Clark, 596 U.S. 36 (2022)). From that day the federal period runs: three years in New York, two in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, four in Florida.
It needs a wrongdoer who is not immune
The statute asks whether you are innocent. The federal claim asks who violated your rights, and the most obvious candidate is usually immune. Prosecutors have absolute immunity for their advocacy, even for the knowing use of false testimony or the suppression of evidence (Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409 (1976)), and the immunity extends to supervisors' training and information-system failures tied to trial (Van de Kamp v. Goldstein, 555 U.S. 335 (2009)). Only qualified immunity covers a prosecutor's investigative acts, such as fabricating evidence before probable cause exists (Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259 (1993)). So these cases usually run against police: for fabricated evidence (Zahrey v. Coffey, 221 F.3d 342 (2d Cir. 2000)) and for suppressing material favorable evidence, which violates due process regardless of good faith (Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)).
The city is liable only through Monell
A municipality answers only where its own policy or custom caused the violation (Monell v. Dep't of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978)). Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011), shows how hard that is in this setting: a single Brady violation could not support failure-to-train liability against a district attorney's office, because a pattern of similar violations is ordinarily necessary. In the Second Circuit there is a path. Bellamy v. City of New York, 914 F.3d 727 (2d Cir. 2019), holds that the City can be liable under Monell for a District Attorney's office policies on Brady disclosure and summation misconduct.
It has no formula
Where the federal claim succeeds, damages are not set by a schedule. They are compensatory damages for a proved injury, with punitive damages available against individual officers and attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b). Nothing on this site estimates them.
Two claims, two courts, two clocks
In New York the statutory claim goes to the Court of Claims within two years and the federal claim to federal or state court within three. They name different defendants. How an award on one affects the other is not in our verified ledger, so it is not published here; it is one of the first things to ask a lawyer.
What the public record shows
These are wrongful conviction matters from public records. All but one are settlements paid by a city. The last, Jimmy Dennis, is a jury verdict reported to be under appeal: it is not money paid, and we have not confirmed who would pay it. For scale on the New York side, the Comptroller's fiscal 2023 report counts 13 reversed-conviction matters paid for a total of $81.3 million in City payouts that year.
The Central Park Five
Five wrongful convictions in a 1989 case, vacated in 2002.
Source: Innocence Project. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Eric Smokes and David Warren
Wrongful convictions for a 1987 Times Square killing, vacated in 2024. The two settlements were reported as $13 million and about $11.1 million.
Source: ABC7 New York. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Anthony Wright
Imprisoned 25 years and exonerated by DNA. The lawsuit alleged a coerced confession. The City admitted nothing.
Source: City of Philadelphia. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Chester Hollman III
Imprisoned 28 years in a case built on coerced witnesses.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Walter Ogrod
Imprisoned 28 years.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Robert DuBoise
Imprisoned 37 years on bite-mark evidence.
Source: WUSF. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
Jimmy Dennis
Twenty-five years on death row in a case where exculpatory evidence was withheld. This is a verdict reported to be under appeal, not money paid, and we have not confirmed who pays it.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
These are other people's cases. What a case is worth depends on the injury, the evidence and the defenses, and the what a case is worth page goes through the factors. If any charge is still pending, or a retrial is possible, talk to your defense lawyer before describing the case to anyone; the criminal case and civil case page explains why.
Wrongful conviction
The federal claim in full: fabricated evidence, Brady, the Heck bar and when the clock starts.
The claim →Prosecutorial misconduct
Absolute immunity, its limits, and Monell claims against a prosecutor's office.
Prosecutors →Public settlements
Settlements and verdicts from public records in four states. Other people's cases, shown for range.
The records →Common questions
How much does New York pay for a wrongful conviction?
New York's statute sets no formula and no cap. Under Court of Claims Act 8-b a claimant who proves the elements by clear and convincing evidence is awarded damages that fairly and reasonably compensate. The claim is filed in the Court of Claims within two years. This site does not estimate what any claim would be awarded.
What do New Jersey and Florida pay?
Both use a statutory formula. New Jersey's is the greater of twice the claimant's pre-incarceration annual income or $50,000 for each year of incarceration, under N.J.S.A. 52:4C-5. Florida's is $50,000 for each year, prorated, up to a statutory cap of $2,000,000, plus a tuition waiver, reimbursement of fines and costs, and expungement, under Fla. Stat. 961.06.
Does Pennsylvania compensate exonerees?
We found no Pennsylvania compensation statute as of our last check. Reporting through mid-2025 says bills have been introduced and have not passed, and we have not verified the status since. In Pennsylvania the remedy has been the federal lawsuit, and the City of Philadelphia has paid several settlements in the public record.
Can I bring both claims?
They are different claims with different defendants, elements and deadlines, and whether to bring one or both, and how an award on one affects the other, is a question for a lawyer reviewing your case. The rules on that interaction are not published on this site because they are not in our verified ledger.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.