Back in 2005, Marvin Haynes and I were just four years apart. I was a reporting intern at the Star Tribune then, while he was on trial for a murder he did not commit. For nearly 20 years, Haynes waded through life in a prison cell before his wrongful conviction was overturned last year.
“The justice system failed me,” he said in May when he was a panelist at a Mary Ann Key Book Club event. “And I kind of felt voiceless.”
That’s a trauma that cannot be undone.
Haynes now seeks nearly $2 million in compensation — $100,000 for every year he was wrongfully imprisoned — according to a lawsuit filed recently with the Minnesota Supreme Court. According to state law, those who’ve had criminal cases exonerated without any outstanding felony cases are entitled to “no less than $50,000″ for every year of their incarceration.
I support Haynes and his pursuit of what he’s due. But, respectfully, I disagree with the $2 million sum in his request.
Because he deserves so much more.
The state must grant Haynes the compensation he’s owed. His claim is indisputable. But if that happens, no state official should ever call it reparations. Because the damage done when a 16-year-old Haynes was falsely accused, arrested and imprisoned for the murder of 55-year-old Randy Sherer at a Minneapolis flower shop in 2004 can’t be reversed. And money will never erase the blood on the hands of every person who failed Haynes and the Sherer family in the legal process. It will, however, allow Haynes to move forward without any concerns about his financial outlook.
Because life has not been easy since his release.