It’s about time.

It’s no secret that being imprisoned causes irreparable damage to reputations and can destroy future opportunities for employment. Guilty or not, spending any time in jail is going to impact your future earnings, not to mention the wages you would have earned during the time you spent in jail. The legislation is designed to help alleviate the financial burden that comes along with imprisonment for those that shouldn’t have been sentenced in the first place.

The bill is basically a step toward giving the wrongly convicted back what they missed while behind bars.

As it is, people are allowed to sue the township they live in and the police force that worked toward convicting them. If the bill passes, people who already have taken such legal action would then be allowed to sue the state for a chance to receive more money.

It’s clear this plan isn’t foolproof as it could be tricky to pinpoint who’s to blame for a wrongful conviction.

Opponents of this bill, such as Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, argue lawsuits like this would place the blame solely on the state when other agencies often are actually at fault.

Those fighting the bill want the burden of the lawsuit to be placed upon the shoulders of those who truly are responsible, such as an agency that gave inaccurate DNA results.

DNA evidence can be a valuable asset when trying to convict someone of a crime, as anyone who watches “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” knows. But unlike TV crime drama, criminal cases are complicated. DNA evidence that wasn’t thoroughly analyzed years ago may or may not be re-examined and overturn a ruling today.

In this situation, the agency responsible for the DNA testing should be forced to pay up, not the state.

Lawyers who offer shortened sentences for witnesses who are guilty of other crimes also could be held responsible, as testimonies from these witnesses are sometimes self-serving, inaccurate and can lead to a wrongful conviction.

Hopefully, as the legislation is debated, it also will be fine-tuned to specifically target those responsible for the conviction so no one is once again falsely accused.

So far, cases like these are rare. According to The New York Times, only two people in Michigan have been wrongly convicted and later exonerated. However, both of those cases resulted in payouts of about $4 million.

Another issue to consider is legislation like this could slow down the legal process, which seems to always be in a hurry to close a case. It also makes the strong statement that accuracy is key when a life is on the line, whether in the case of a murder or a lifetime jail sentence.

Regardless of who takes the blame, it’s obvious someone who served unnecessary jail time should be compensated for the humiliation and scarred reputation they have to deal with, as well as for the time lost with their family. Someone has to pay.