September 4, 2009 2:04PM # Some Good Spending For a Change By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE Cato analysts regularly identify areas where the government is either wasting money or spending money on unconstitutional or [inappropriate](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/) matters. There are a few areas, however, where the state does not spend money where it ought to. A case in point is where the state has mistakenly locked up an innocent person. Believe it or not, in some jurisdictions [no compensation](http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/Compensation.php) is offered to the victims. Zero! The [Associated Press](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5grLo5gR1yAbyKHKS_xv9RhFRbv1gD9AGF4U80) has a story today about a new Texas law that will pay about $80,000 in compensation to victims for each year they were wrongly incarcerated. Other states should follow suit. Inaction is inexcusable. (H/T: [Grits for Breakfast](http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2009/09/texas-dna-exonerees-will-soon-receive.html)) ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).