CHICAGO — This month, two men – both freed last year after DNA evidence exonerated them of the crimes for which they’d been in prison – received drastically different news about how they might be compensated for those lost years. Connecticut legislators voted to award $5 million to James Tillman to help him get his life back on track after 18 years behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit. The Florida Legislature, on the other hand, denied Alan Crotzer’s request for $1.25 million and let a bill die that would have standardized a compensation system for victims of wrongful conviction. ‘I felt so disappointed,’ says Mr. Crotzer, who served more than 24 years in a Florida prison until DNA evidence cleared him of rape and kidnapping charges. He’s been working odd jobs that pay less than $300 a week since he got out. ‘The bottom line is, I don’t think I could ever put a price on freedom¦. But they’ve got to put a system in place. [This issue] isn’t going away.’ The cases are typical results of the patchwork of compensation laws in the US, say experts. Last month, the 200th person was exonerated […]