Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. issued ten pardons Friday, including one to Michael Austin, released from prison last year after being wrongfully imprisoned on a murder charge for 27 years. How do we compensate someone for that?

Ehrlich will have plenty of say about how much money, if any, Austin receives. "Let me give you a general answer, and the answer is yes," Ehrlich said yesterday about the matter. "Then, of course, your question is how much. What's a year worth? What's six months worth? What is 27 years worth?"

In the case of Gernonimo Pratt, also wrongly imprisoned for 27 years, the city of Los Angeles and the Justice Department split a $4 million payment to Pratt. Maryland has paid far less in the past:

In 1984 the board authorized a $250,000 payment to Leslie A. Vass, released after serving 10 years for a robbery that prosecutors said he didn't commit. Ten years later, Kirk N. Bloodsworth got $300,000 after serving nine years before his exoneration by DNA evidence. Earlier this year, Bernard Webster got $900,000 after serving 20 years for a rape he didn't commit. The same annual rate in Austin's case would yield about $1.2 million.

Ehrlich, a Republican, is a welcome breath of fresh air on the issue of pardons and parole.