George Stinney Have A Fair Trial Then And Now

George Stinney, a 14 year old boy convicted of murder, was the youngest to ever be executed (“Wrongful Convictions Then and Now: The Tragic Case of George Stinney Jr.”). Some think that his trial is unfair. Others think that it is fair. The world will never know. But based on research, it clearly shows that there is no such thing as a fair trial. George Stinney was a 14 year old African American, who was wrongly charged with murder. Stinney was accused of the murder of Betty June Binnicker, who was 11, and Mary Emma Thomas, who was 7 (“Wrongful Convictions Then and Now: The Tragic Case of George Stinney Jr.”). Their “bodies were found in a ditch on March 24, 1944” (“George Stinney Jr., who was Executed at Age 14 without a fair trial, is Honored

An example of what these people are trying to prove is the Tom Robinson case, because they had several witnesses, yet Stinney didn’t even have witnesses, so there was no way that it could even be classified as fair (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). Fair trial: “separating the guilty from the innocent” (“The Right to a Fair Trial”). However, in the Stinney case, it is said that Stinney used a railroad spike to murder the two girls, yet there was no medical evidence, so they couldn’t prove it (“Wrongful Convictions Then and Now: The Tragic Case of George Stinney Jr.”). Therefore, there is no evidence to prove that Stinney had anything to do with their murders. When talking to his sister, she claims that “[the police] were looking for someone to blame it on, so they used [Stinney] as a scapegoat” (Bever, Lindsey). They knew that it would work even if they didn’t have any evidence or witnesses, because George Stinney was a black, which made him look like a main suspect. Yes, maybe they really did separate the guilty from the innocent, but they obviously had no intention in separating Stinney in any way. They had him in a place, and there was no way he was getting out. Before the whole trial even started, everyone knew that this was the end of the young George

“The evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around [the] women” (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). During this time, white women were not to tempt Negroes, or kiss one, because it was considered unspeakable (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). In the Tom Robinson case, in one of the testimonies, it was stated that basically Robinson was practically on top of Mayella attacking her (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). And since the Ewells were white and Robinson was black, “the jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells” (“How Does Harper Lee Show the Treatment of Tom Robinson is Cruel and Unfair in To Kill a Mockingbird”). Even though Mayella said that Tom hit her, she kept saying that she couldn’t remember what happened, but of course the jury still believed her . But, Tom’s left arm was twelve inches shorter than his right and hung right by his side. Also during cases like this, women and children were asked to leave the courtroom (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). And although this trial lasted for a while with many witnesses, Atticus realized that Tom had little chance of being cleared of all of the charges (“How Does Harper Lee Show the Treatment of Tom Robinson is Cruel and Unfair in To Kill a Mockingbird”). Tom was a very nice gentleman, because he stated in his testimony, “[he] tried to ‘thout bein’ ugly to