BOSTON (AP) – Two men imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit have asked the state for compensation, bringing to six the number of wrongfully convicted prisoners seeking damages under a state law that went into effect in January.

Lawyer Johnson, who was released in 1982 after a decade in prison for murder, and Neil Miller, who was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2000 after spending 10 years in prison for a 1989 rape he didn’t commit, filed motions on Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court seeking $500,000 in damages.

Both men also want their records cleared, half of their tuition paid at a state college or university, counseling, job training, and other aid.

“My life has been a wreck, and I’m still recovering from the devastation that started in 1972,” Johnson said. “My life has been in limbo. God knows where I would be if I hadn’t gone through that injustice.”

Four other wrongfully convicted men – Dennis Maher, Marvin Mitchell, John Scullin, and Eduardo Velasquez – are also seeking damages from the state.

Under the law that the Legislature passed late last year, exonerated individuals can ask for a civil trial to make their case for compensation of up to $500,000.

More than a dozen other states already have similar laws, including New York and Illinois, said Peter Neufeld, co-founder of The Innocence Project in New York. Neufeld also serves as co-counsel on cases already filed in Massachusetts courts.

“This statute is long overdue,” he said.