Twenty-five years.

That’s how long my brother, Leon D. Benson, spent imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. For nearly a quarter of a century, our family never stopped fighting to prove his innocence. We attended hearings, searched for evidence, challenged injustice, and refused to give up hope. When Leon was finally exonerated, we believed the hardest part was over.

It wasn’t.

Freedom is priceless, but freedom alone cannot restore the years that were stolen or provide the resources needed to rebuild a life.

After decades of wrongful incarceration, exonerees face enormous challenges. They often leave prison with no savings, no career, no retirement, limited employment opportunities, untreated trauma, and little support. Many struggle to find stable housing, transportation, healthcare, and meaningful employment while trying to adjust to a world that changed without them.

In Indiana, wrongfully convicted individuals are forced to make an impossible choice: accept state compensation or preserve their right to pursue a civil lawsuit against those responsible for the injustice they endured.

No innocent person should have to choose between rebuilding their life today and seeking full accountability tomorrow.

State compensation is not a windfall—it is a recognition of the years that were wrongfully taken. A civil lawsuit serves a different purpose: to hold those responsible accountable when misconduct or negligence contributed to a wrongful conviction. Exonerees should not be forced to surrender one form of justice to receive the other.

The Right to Rebuild Act would correct this injustice by allowing exonerees to receive the state compensation they need to begin rebuilding their lives without forfeiting their right to pursue a civil claim. State compensation provides immediate financial stability, while a civil lawsuit allows the courts to determine whether additional accountability and damages are appropriate. These are two different forms of justice and should not be mutually exclusive.

To ensure fairness for both exonerees and taxpayers, if an exoneree later receives a civil judgment or settlement arising from the same wrongful conviction, the State of Indiana may be reimbursed for any statutory compensation previously paid, as provided by law. This approach allows innocent people to rebuild their lives immediately while preserving their constitutional right to seek accountability through the courts. It ensures that exonerees are not forced to choose between financial stability and justice while also protecting the interests of the State.

Every year, innocent people are exonerated after spending years—and sometimes decades—in prison for crimes they did not commit. By the time they regain their freedom, many have lost their careers, family milestones, financial security, and irreplaceable years of their lives. Passing the Right to Rebuild Act recognizes that exoneration alone is not enough. True justice requires meaningful restoration and a fair opportunity to rebuild.

Passing the Right to Rebuild Act would demonstrate that Indiana is committed not only to correcting wrongful convictions but also to helping innocent people rebuild with dignity. It would strengthen public confidence in the justice system by recognizing that true justice does not end at exoneration—it includes restoration.

Justice delayed has already taken enough.

Indiana lawmakers now have an opportunity to ensure that innocent people are not forced to choose between immediate financial stability and their constitutional right to seek full accountability.

I urge Indiana lawmakers to pass the Right to Rebuild Act.

Please sign this petition and share it with others. Together, we can help ensure that every wrongfully convicted person in Indiana has the opportunity to rebuild their life with dignity, stability, and hope—without having to sacrifice their right to justice.

Justice is not complete when an innocent person is released. Justice is complete only when they have a fair opportunity to rebuild the life that was wrongfully taken from them.