Through pro bono efforts, the firm’s Georgia Government Relations Team—Helen Sloat, Stan Jones, George Ray, and Ross Shepard—played a pivotal role in the passage of a new law establishing a formal financial compensation process for individuals who were wrongfully convicted. 

Signed by Governor Brian Kemp on May 14, the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act marks a long-overdue milestone for the state. Until now, individuals exonerated after wrongful convictions had to rely on a state legislator to sponsor a separate compensation bill on their behalf—legislation that then had to pass through the entire legislative process. This left many with no financial support or resources to rebuild their lives. 

“Before this law, after you got out of prison in Georgia, you were just let back out into the world -- and no one would hand you so much as a bus ticket,” Sloat said. “This was a years-long effort to get individuals compensated for their time wrongly incarcerated.” 

The new law provides compensation of $75,000 for each year wrongly served behind bars, and an additional $25,000 for time served on death row. 

The Nelson Mullins team collaborated with the Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) and other law firms to push the legislation forward. State Representatives Katie Dempsey, R-Rome and Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, co-sponsored the bill and were passionate about making something wrong, right. 

“They worked really hard together to try and make this happen,” Sloat said of the lawmakers. “We also worked with Representative Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula) on the first draft of the legislation back in 2021 before he became majority leader. What helped was that some of these lawmakers had individuals in their area that had been wrongfully convicted and then found innocent, it was that personal standpoint that pushed things along.”

This was especially true for Representative Dempsey, who had two gentlemen in her district who had experienced the horrific wrongful incarcerations and lost their youth and young adulthoods. 

According to the GIP, there have been 52 known cases of wrongful incarceration since 1989.  

The bill took nearly four years to pass through the legislature. Although it garnered bipartisan support in the Georgia House, it repeatedly stalled in the Senate. To overcome this challenge, the team devised creative strategies to help advance the legislation to the governor’s desk. The new law takes effect July 1 of this year. 

“House leaders supported this effort for years, but we had to get creative to achieve passage by the Senate,” Ray explained. “The key to success this year was attaching the Compensation Act to a Senate bill pending in the House that was a priority for Senate leaders. That nontraditional approach was ultimately how we got it across the line.” 

Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins is a full-service Am Law 100 firm of more than 1,000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals with offices across the United States. Through its nationally recognized Pro Bono Program, the firm uses the full strength of its legal practice to advance justice, defend rights, and restore dignity for the most vulnerable. Nelson Mullins provides strategic legal advocacy across key areas, including wrongful incarceration, children’s rights, community revitalization, and protection against discrimination and violence. In standing with those most impacted by injustice, Nelson Mullins is dedicated to fostering a more just and inclusive society. For more information, visit www.nelsonmullins.com.