In recent decades, state authorities and local governments in USA paid a total of $2.9 billion to wrongfully convicted Americans.

Media interest in compensation amounts and improvements in DNA identification technology has attracted investors and companies that offer cash advances to parolees in the hope of significant compensation if they win their case.

“Even if someone told me, ‘I’ll give you $10 million if you go to jail for 20 years,’ it would be hard for me to say yes,” says Marvin Cotton, who was released from his 20-year-old conclusions in October 2020.

Since 1989, the National Criminal Registry has found that 2,795 wrongful convictions have been overturned in the US. Collectively, wrongfully convicted people have lost over 25,000 years behind bars.

Thirty-eight states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia compensate those who are proven to have been wrongfully convicted. The money is calculated based on the number of years spent in prison. Getting higher compensation usually requires litigation against the government, which can be time consuming and costly.

Proving one’s innocence in a civil court is not an easy or quick process. Private companies can be an attractive lifeline for many parolees, especially because of the increased costs associated with litigation with the government.

There is also a risk for companies that offer advances for these cases. “There are no credit checks, no collateral, no guarantees, no assets,” said Abraham Arausti of Tribeca Capital Group, a litigation firm that offers funding for such cases. “The only way to get our investment back is to win the lawsuit.”

Source: CNBC.