JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A unanimous vote of the Florida House Judiciary Committee Wednesday moved 77-year-old Clifford Williams one step closer to nearly $2 million in reparations.
Williams was wrongfully incarcerated for murder in 1976. He served 43 years before being exonerated last March, along with his nephew Nathan Myers, following a 10-month investigation by the State Attorney’s Office. Under state law, Myers is entitled to reparations for his time in prison. Because Williams had a prior felony record, he is not.
But a special claims bill aims to fix that.
The bill has yet to garner a single naysayer over weeks of committee meetings -- something sponsor Rep. Kimberly Daniels calls remarkable.
“One hundred percent. I mean -- not one 'No' vote,” she told First Coast News. “That never happens.”
Williams’ daughter Tracy Williams-Magwood drove up from Miami Wednesday to thank members of the Judiciary Committee for supporting the bill and to share her experiences.
“To all of you in this room, thank you,” she began. “At the age of four, I lost my father."
Because her mother died in childbirth, Williams-Magwood said, the loss was particularly significant. “The special occasions -- Christmas morning when children would get up and open gifts -- I was on my way to Raiford, FL., to visit my father on Death Row.”
Williams’ sentence was eventually converted into life in prison – but not before he spent four years on Death Row
State Rep. Joe Gellar said Williams’ case illustrated a larger concern.
“We make mistakes. We’re human. We’re fallible," he said. "We should not take the power of God in our hands and have people be executed. This is a perfect example of why we should not have the death penalty in this state.”
It’s an issue that both Williams and Myers say needs more attention.
“Trust me -- there are still people in prison that are innocent of their crimes,” Myers said in an interview with First Coast News. "They don’t have help."
“How many men that was back there on Death Row and didn’t get a chance to get back – they were executed?” Williams asked. “I was just one of the fortunate ones.”
As the committee voted 17-1 to advance the reparations bill, Committee Chair Rep. Paul Renner apologized.
“It’s never too late for justice," he said. "We’re sorry it’s taken this long.”
Williams, who married to his teenage sweetheart two weeks ago, expects to get reparations in July.