RT Article
T1 Pain, suffering, and jury awards: a study of the cost of wrongful convictions
JF Criminology & public policy
VO 20
IS 4
SP 691
OP 727
A1 Cohen, Mark A.
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1796293865
AB This paper estimates the cost of wrongful convictions based on analysis of jury awards and settlements for individuals who were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Key variables of interest are number of days spent in prison, days on probation, and demographics of wrongfully convicted and their families. The average “cost” of a wrongful conviction is estimated to be $6.1 million, or $1334 per day of incarceration, while the marginal cost decreases over time: initial incarceration is valued at over $50,000 for the first day; year one is valued at $1.5 million ($4000/day), while the marginal cost of the 10th year is estimated to be approximately $350,000 ($950/day).
K1 Cost of incarceration
K1 False imprisonment
K1 Jury awards
K1 Wrong fulconviction
DO 10.1111/1745-9133.12559