"He was robbed of time being spent away from family and loved ones, holidays, birthdays, missed milestones, opportunities denied — injustice, time and time again," Governor Wes Moore said in apologizing to Huffington, who attended the board meeting.

On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, The Maryland Board of Public Works approved $2.9 million in compensation Wednesday for John Huffington, a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years, including 10 years on death row, for two murders he did not commit. 

Huffington was pardoned by Former Governor Larry Hogan in January. Hogan declared "prosecutorial misconduct" in granting a full innocence pardon for Huffington in connection with a 1981 double slaying in Harford County known as the "Memorial Day Murders".

Using the Walter Lomax Act (2021), a law that developed a formula that provides reparations to wrongfully convicted people, the Board of Public Works — comprised of current Governor Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis — approved the $2.9 million compensation package.

In all costs, Huffington remained resilient and dedicates his life towards public service and criminal justice reform. In his book and selected speeches, Huffington used his voice to speak out against the flaws in the criminal justice system. Upon his release, Huffington worked as a manager at Second Chance, a nonprofit that helps people with barriers to employment. He also worked in job training and reentry programs at the Living Classrooms Foundation. Now, he is the Chief Operating Officer at the Kinetic Capital Community Foundation, which promotes income equality in Baltimore, MD.