Parts of the justice system in the USA are quite unforgiving, which feels at odds with a professedly Christian nation.
I observe and respect the Christian heritage and traditions.
Having said that, and from my own experience, the most vile, hypocrite and ill-intentioned people I've met, happen to portray an image of justice and purity based on (their purported) Christian values.
I believe it's some sort of mimicry they develop on purpose, to balance out the negative image deserving of their real self.
They're also quite easy to spot, though. Most Christians keep what they do, good or bad, to themselves, while these guys preach it out in a way that comes off as unnatural.
Anyway, these kind of scumbags, when at the right place/time, could do irreparable damage to other people's lives and then go on with their business and completely forget about it, so be careful when you encounter one, best advice is to just steer away from them. (Thomas couldn't, in this case, and that's part of the tragedy).
There are also the more obvious examples of people that pander to get some perceived benefit, most are happy to believe 'the other party does this'. It's really sad that it is a rare gem of a politician who really believes in everything they say.
When you have some oppressing others, this is always in the name of something great and beyond mere mortals. Never because "I said so" (even if of course this is usually the case)
Bear in mind those figures are statutorily-mandated money that you get by law. You can also sue on top of that.
The issue is that it's often impossible to sue for decades behind bars. All sorts of things stop you, such as statutes of limitation, qualified immunity from prosecution etc.
There is nothing in federal or state legal documents that mention Christianity. God? Yes. Traceable to Judeo-Christian values? Yes. Christianity explicitly mentioned. No.
First, I think there's a base, flat fee even if you're in just one day. Next, some kind of pro-rated per annum amount, based on some multiple of the median income in that state. Additional amounts for, I don't know, each day in solitary, whatever documented medical issues arise (it isn't like we can get anyone to write down prison beatings), and so on.
A separate account is created to pay lawyers whose sole job is to scrub the erroneous conviction, from each and every place it exists. I imagine a group to do this.
Another account is created to pay for therapists, pretty much "for life."
I also think something needs to be set aside for assessment of the person's skills and guidance for retraining, five years of college, whatever.
Room and board for, well, I don't know how many years. Your car got repo'd? Yeah, that's a new car for you.
Essentially, the reasonable and fair thing to do would be do whatever is possible to re-integrate people and make them as whole as is possible: financially, psychically, materially, and so on.
Yes agreed, at a minimum.
Perhaps we can/should go further.
In cases like these, I wonder how the incentive structure may change if it became mandatory for all involved crooked prosecutors and inept judges to personally apologise, be temporarily stripped of their professional credentials, and perhaps serve some time in jail as retribution.