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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Homosexual consensual activity |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
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Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Germany |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Legislature Overturned Conviction |
Summary of Case: |
"On July 22, 2017 an Act of Parliament went into effect in Germany that criminally rehabilitates all men convicted in the Federal Republic of Germany and in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) after May 8, 1945, for performing consensual homosexual acts.[n.1] The criminal convictions are automatically annulled. Upon request, the person’s criminal record will be expunged and the prosecutor’s office will issue a certificate that the person’s record has been rehabilitated.[n.2] If the convicted person is no longer alive, his registered life partner or spouse, his fiancé, his parents, his children, or his siblings may submit a request for a certificate from the prosecutor’s office stating that the convicted person has been criminally rehabilitated. (Id. § 3 ¶ 3.) It is estimated te law can rehabilitate the reputation of upwards of 50,000 males. An estimated 5,000 of them are still living, and they can submit a request for compensation to the Federal Office of Justice within five years of the act’s entry into force. Only the convicted person may submit the compensation request. (Id. § 6.) A convicted person will receive €3,000 (about US$3,546) per annulled conviction and €1,500 (about US$1,773) per started year spent in prison. (Id. § 5.) The claim is not garnishable, transferrable, or inheritable. German Criminal Code Paragraph 175 criminalized homosexual acts between males. The law was enacted in 1871, and it wasn’t repealed until March 10, 1994. The law criminalized all "sexual acts contrary to nature… be it between people of the male gender or between people and animals." Although lesbianism was considered to be immoral and violate nature, it wasn’t criminalized in Germany because it wasn’t viewed as a threat to society. Note 1: Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 7, 1945, which ended the political rule of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI's). Note 2: The homosexula rehabilitation law that went into effect on July 22, 2017 is (Gesetz zur strafrechtlichen Rehabilitierung der nach dem 8. Mai 1945 wegen einvernehmlicher homosexueller Handlungen verurteilten Personen und zur Änderung des Einkommensteuergesetzes [Act to Criminally Rehabilitate Persons Who Have Been Convicted of Performing Consensual Homosexual Acts After May 8, 1945, and to Amend the Income Tax Act], July 17, 2017, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] [FEDERAL LAW GAZETTE] I at 2443, BGBl. website.)" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 22, 2017 an Act of Parliament went into effect in Germany that criminally rehabilitates all men convicted in the Federal Republic of Germany and in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) after May 8, 1945, for performing consensual homosexual acts.[1] The criminal convictions are automatically annulled. Upon request, the person’s criminal record will be expunged and the prosecutor’s office will issue a certificate that the person’s record has been rehabilitated.[2] If the convicted person is no longer alive, his registered life partner or spouse, his fiancé, his parents, his children, or his siblings may submit a request for a certificate from the prosecutor’s office stating that the convicted person has been criminally rehabilitated. (Id. § 3 ¶ 3.) It is estimated te law can rehabilitate the reputation of upwards of 50,000 males.* An estimated 5,000 of them are still living." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Germany: Criminal Rehabilitation for Men Convicted After 1945 for Homosexual Acts, Global Legal Monitor, The Libarary of Congess (U.S.), August 9, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/germany-criminal-rehabilitation-for-men-convicted-after-1945-for-homosexual-acts/ |
Information Source 2: |
"German Parliament Approves Vindicating Males Of Homosexual Convictions, By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied, June 26, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
http://justicedenied.org/wordpress/archives/3739 |
Information Source 3: |
"Germany’s Cabinet Approves Pardons For More Than 50,000 Men Convicted Of Homosexual Crimes, By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied, March 27, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://justicedenied.org/wordpress/archives/3575 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org