# 119-hr-5540: Justice for Exonerees Act

119-hr-5540, Justice for Exonerees Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] (D-CA); status introduced (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5540
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-5540
- Congress: 119
- Title: Justice for Exonerees Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-09-19
- Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Law
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**higher, inflation-adjusted compensation for people wrongfully convicted.** This bill would raise the cap on damages recoverable for unjust conviction and imprisonment from $50,000 to $70,000 and require that the cap be adjusted each year for inflation using the Consumer Price Index.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher payouts for exonerees, tied to inflation: benefit, medium. This bill would raise the federal cap on damages for unjust conviction and imprisonment from $50,000 to $70,000. It would also index these awards to inflation each year using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). If enacted, the new cap and CPI updates would apply to federal exoneree damages going forwar…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-6644: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6771: Housing Crisis Response Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hres-1299: Providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendment to H.R. 6644, with amendment.
- 119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026

## Sources
- [119-hr-5540 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5540)

## Related
- [119-hr-6644: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6644)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-6771: Housing Crisis Response Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6771)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hres-1299: Providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendment to H.R. 6644…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hres-1299)
- [119-hr-7481: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7481)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5540 (as of 2026-04-21).