Police officers rarely face criminal charges or even internal disciplinary measures when they engage in misconduct. When misconduct goes unchecked, officers may continue to abuse their powers. Often, when police misconduct is discovered in one case, several more instances of misconduct committed by the same officer are uncovered in other cases. For example, several convictions in cases investigated by former Chicago officer Jon Burge and his team have been overturned due to repeated misconduct that went unpunished for many years. Nearly 37% of exoneration cases since 1989 involved police misconduct, the National Registry of Exonerations reported. “The new law puts a price tag on police misconduct and creates a strong incentive for agencies to adopt and enforce policies that prevent abuses which can lead to wrongful convictions,” said Innocence Project State Policy Advocate Laurie Roberts. “It also provides exonerees with the financial justice they deserve after having their rights violated by government officials and having their freedom unjustly taken away.” A bipartisan coalition of organizations including the Innocence Project, Americans for Prosperity, American Civil Liberties Union, Institute for Justice, National Police Accountability Project, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield — co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s — championed the bill.