In honor of exoneree Ray Champagne, we are continuing his legacy
in our fight for just compensation
Ray Champagne was freed on February 18, 2020, after serving 41 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Since then, he devoted his time and vision to developing support for the community of people returning from long-term incarceration and co-founded the Exoneree Network, a welcoming and supportive community for wrongfully convicted people coming home. We lost Ray in 2022 in a tragic motorcycle accident, but remain committed to making Ray’s dream of securing just compensation for all exonerees and freed people who have suffered this terrible injustice a reality.
While finding freedom after years, or even decades, in prison is a joyous thing, there is no existing infrastructure to assist an innocent person returning from long-term incarceration back into the community. Therefore, wrongfully convicted people often leave prison with no immediate support from the state and must rebuild their lives from almost nothing. This is why the Exoneree Network was created, to help fill this gap.
As many exonerees in Massachusetts have experienced, they can sue the state for financial compensation, but that process can take years, and if they are successful, the maximum amount of money they can receive for all they have suffered is $1 Million.
This legislative session, we have the chance to better support wrongfully convicted people, thanks to State Senator Patricia Jehlen and her ongoing fight for change. Senator Jehlen, along with Representatives Jeff Roy and Chris Worrell, have filed bills that would, among other things, lift the million-dollar cap, speed up the process to get compensation and provide immediate financial support, as well as access to social service advocates, to people while they await the resolution of their compensation claims.
On May 17, they hosted a legislative briefing on this issue at the Massachusetts State House and we attended, along with Boston College Innocence Program and CPCS Innocence Program, to talk about the difficulties people face after long-term incarceration (pictured below).
We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch this video segment produced by Mike Beaudet at WCVB-TV, Ch. 5, featuring three exonerees, Ray Champagne, Robert Foxworth, and Fred Clay, who collectively spent more than 100 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. In this important interview, Ray, Robert, and Fred discuss the difficulties of being released without financial support or resources and how Massachusetts needs to do more for people who've been wrongfully convicted.
We are grateful to those who continue to shine a light on this critical issue and who fight for adequate compensation for wrongfully convicted people and will do everything we can to continue the fight in Ray’s honor and for so many others.