WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Two organizations are joining forces to help make a difference for a group of people who are often forgotten.
They got together Sunday afternoon outside the Luzerne County Courthouse to call for justice for the wrongfully convicted.
They rolled into Wilkes-Barre Sunday afternoon looking to raise much-needed awareness to help right a wrong.
Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice partnered with the Bronx, New York-based Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice to hold a Wrongful Conviction Rally.
Pennsylvania is one of 12 states that does not provide financial compensation to inmates who were wrongfully convicted.
Welcoming Fall at Yenser’s Tree Farm Fall Fest “It means everything. I’m helping people in the same position that I was once in, meaning I was exonerated, but I wasn’t compensated. Those five years I spent without any compensation were extremely difficult. I lived in poverty to be blunt at one point I was a couple of weeks away from being in a homeless shelter,” said co-organizer Jeffrey Deskovic.
After being exonerated, he went on to become a lawyer, making it his life’s mission to help others in the same position he was once in.
Members of Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice say not only do wrongfully convicted people lose time they will never get back, but also often lose their careers.
“Well, you know, they lost a lot a lot of part of their lives along you know with their families, and is very hard for them to gain all that back,” said Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice State Secretary Brandy Argott.
“You could lose a career or business so we’re looking for up to $75,000 a year that you served and we’re also looking for child support to be paid for the years that were served as well,” said Adam Williamson, State Captain of the Pennsylvania Bikers for Justice.
A Philadelphia exoneree, Yeidja Bostick, said providing compensation is the fair thing to do.
“In all fairness is time for us to be compensated since we were falsely accused, falsely convicted, falsely incarcerated, and we were fairly and justly through the judicial system cleared of the crimes that we were convicted of,” Bostick explained.
“To not compensate people who’ve been exonerated is to follow up one injustice with another injustice,” Deskovic stated.
They will head to the state capitol on Tuesday to continue their quest for compensation.
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