Personal Opinion
In my opinion, the wrongful convictions of innocent people are a terrifying reality. Going away for a crime you did not commit and wasting a majority of your life in a prison away from your family, friends and former life is a terrible fact of modern life. In Canada, 2-4 % of convictions are wrongful, which means that, in 2015, people are still being punished for crimes they did not commit. The wrongful convictions may not be as terrible as the one Donald Marshall,Jr. faced when he was 17 years old, but this percentage proves that our justice system still has it's flaws. Even though I hope to never be in that kind of position, I don't blame the people who stay quiet when they are wrongfully convicted because they are afraid that all their efforts are going to be wasted and that the justice system will fail them once again. In reality, it becomes tiresome to always proclaim your innocence, so I don't blame those people who jump at the chance at a shorter sentence in exchange for a "confession". I know that everyone makes mistakes and nobody is perfect, but making a mistake that it leads to an innocent person going to jail shos that there are major flaws in how our justice system is constructed. Hopefully, the government will also realize how important it is to keep on improving the way we administer our laws and protect the innocent.
Is giving money to the wrongfully convicted a good way to say sorry?
It may depend on the person and the type of case that is being handled, but in the case of Donald Marshall, Jr. I do not believe that giving him money would ever be enough to forgive the flaws in our justice system. Donald Marshall , Jr. is an extreme case, but nonetheless he was sentenced to life in prison when he was only 17 years old and had so much life to live. He wasted the majority of his young life in jail, serving a sentence that was not meant for him. He could have done so much with his life, like many others who were wrongfully convicted, but instead the criminal justice system failed him and he paid a terrible price. During the trial and his conviction, he also faced ridicule from the general public, his friends and his family. They thought he was a monster for killing a young teen and formed their opinions. For many others who were wrongfully convicted, their reputations were tarnished, their family relationships were most likely destroyed or hard to repair and it became very difficult finding jobs without having any experience in the real world. In my opinion, even though it is nice of the government to give money to those they have wronged, no amount of money will be able to bring that person's life back.