§ 7002 — Declaration of purpose

The State recognizes that certain individuals have served sentences of incarceration, parole, probation, and sex offender registration in the State for crimes they did not commit, and that such individuals have been denied compensation for their wrongful convictions unless they can prove their wrongful incarceration was caused by official misconduct. The State believes that individuals who were innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted suffer long-term hardships as a result of their wrongful convictions, and are entitled to compensation for the sentences they wrongfully served, regardless of whether their convictions resulted from official misconduct. Therefore, this chapter provides compensation to individuals whose convictions have been overturned followed by either acquittal or dismissal of charges, and who are found to have been factually innocent of the crime or crimes at issue, for time that they served sentences due solely to the wrongful conviction.

This chapter denies compensation to individuals who intentionally caused their convictions in order to prevent the convictions of the true perpetrators of the crimes at issue.

The State recognizes that individuals whose convictions are overturned in most cases have been released from prison without any reintegration services, even those services that are routinely provided to releasees whose convictions have not been overturned. The State finds that this lack of services unjustly hampers the ability of these individuals to reintegrate into society. Accordingly, this chapter provides reintegration services to such individuals.

Legislative History

84 Del. Laws, c. 427, § 1