Dr. Smead’s book, Blood Justice: The Lynching of Mack Charles Parker gives an investigative and in-depth account of one the last lynchings in America. The book tells the story of Mack Charles Parker, an African-American victim of lynching in Poplarville, Mississippi during 1959. Parker is accused of raping a pregnant white woman named June Walters. He is also accused of abducting Walters and her four-year-old daughter Debbie. Eventually, Parker is apprehended and later murdered by an angry mob of the town residents in order to prevent a trial.
Bryan Dixon is a second year law student at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the same school in 2013. Though raised as the son of a judge, Bryan’s initial interest was not in law. Bryan was initially on the path to a career in civil engineering. However, Bryan’s creative mind and interest in solving problems between other people brought him back to the field of law.
Could Atticus have won Atticus could not have won the case for Tom Robinson. Atticus tried to win the case but the Ewells won because the court favored whites. The case Atticus and Tom were in they couldn’t have won and Tom would have still went to jail even if he won the case. Atticus and the kids were surprised when they didn't win the case but atticus knew that he wouldn't have won because the case was with a black man and a white girl.
In addition to the harrowing case of Ronald Cotton, the reliability of an eyewitness testimony was recently challenged with the incorrect conviction of Kash Register. While sitting in his parked Chevrolet in 1979, an elderly man named Jack Sasson was viciously robbed of his life when he was shot five times at close proximity (Bazelon). Brenda Anderson, a nineteen year old who occupied an apartment on the same street, informed police that she heard the rowdy sound of gunfire, and when she peered out her window, noticed an African-American man stumbling away from the scene, before turning back and firing further rounds (Bazelon). When Anderson was shown photographs of several young men, she quickly recognized Register, who was a previous classmate
A comparison study of two murders in the state of Ms which are Jones v. State of Mississippi (2009) and Parker v. State of Mississippi (2011) and both of these cases have a lot in common. Brett Jones and Lester Parker are currently in jail for a heinous crime. Not only were they 15 years old juveniles doing the time but they both their grandfathers several times for different reasons and because of that they were charged with first and second degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole. Brett Jones Jr. v. State of Mississippi (2009) Brett Jones stabbed his 68 year old grandfather to death and was sentenced to life without parole but because he was a juvenile at the time he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole because his 8th amendment was violated.
There were claims on the Manton case study that Dixon had prior history of engaging in sexual activity at his high school, which led Dixon to be suspended twice for the prior sexual acts. At the time of this incident, Dixon was 18 years old, and the “victim” was 15 (Manton, 2005). Following this factual information, Dixon at that time claimed that the sexual act was consensual and accused the girl of fabricating the story because of fear of her parents finding out and punishing her for sleeping with a black man (Manton, 2005). Several charges were suggested for Dixon which included: statutory rape, aggravated child molestation, rape, sexual battery, false imprisonment, and aggravated assist (Manton, 2005). Dixon was then acquitted of a majority of the charges and found Dixon guilty of statutory rape and aggravated child molestation (Manton,
For 18 years behind bars – 12 of them on death row – Anthony Graves maintained his innocence for the horrific murder of a family in Somerville, Texas. But that’s exactly how long it took for injustice to finally be overturned. On a Wednesday afternoon at the Burleson County jail in Caldwell, Texas; Anthony was writing a letter in cell when a guard unlocked the door and ordered Graves to come with him. “I had no idea what was going on, and why he wasn’t putting me in handcuffs”, said Graves.
Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 was enacted by congress it liberated organized labor from the federal courts injunctions. Prior to the act a federal judge could be convinced that a strike, picketing, or boycott would violate the law they would issue an injunction so that the union would have to stop the strike (Bernstein, N.N.. 2015). Norris-LaGuardia Act is called a "yellow dog" contract, an employee promises not to join the union to stay in contract with their employer. It made it so federal judges could not issue injunctions if the strike was not violent. The act defined "labor dispute" so that there was no possible misunderstanding of the terms of employment (Bernstein, N.N.. 2015).
On September 2, 1974, Ehrlich A. Coker a convicted rapist, murderer, and overall felon that had been previously sentenced to three (3) life sentences plus 20 years, as well as an eight (8) year prison term had managed to escape. While on the run, Coker entered the residence of Elnita and Allen Carver without permission and threatened the couple. Mr. Coker proceeded to tie up Mr. Carver, steal Mrs. Carver’s money and car keys. Mrs. Carver was subsequently raped and kidnapped by Coker. It was upon Mr. Carver managing to free himself that he was then able to notify police of the events that had taken place.
Yesterday, on May 31st, 1924, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. confessed to the murder and kidnapping of 14-year-old Bobby Franks for ransom money and the thrill of the experience. Bobby was first abducted when walking home from school north on Ellis Avenue and he was found dead the next morning. When walking he saw his cousin Richard driving passed who offered him a ride home and to talk about his tennis racket as the Frank’s family loved Tennis. The cause of death was suffocation despite having head trauma after receiving multiple blows with a chisel, causing a large gash to form on the back of his skull.
Innocence is is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. Being convicted of a crime and found not guilty later on can frustrate the convict and the convict’s family as the time spent behind bars, is time they will never get back. James Richardson was convicted and charged for murder and rape in Cross Lanes, West Virginia on May 18, 1989. First, Richardson noticed the neighbor’s house burning.
In 1986, Michael Morton would go on to spend the next twenty-five years of his life in prison for a crime that he did not commit. Morton’s wife, Christine, was bludgeoned to death in their home with their young son bearing witness to the murder. Although no physical evidence linked Morton to the murder, he was consequently charged with the killing of his wife. In addition, Morton’s young son even makes the statement that his was father was not even at the home during the time of the murder in a police report. One of the primary reasons that Michael Morton was convicted of the murder involved the unethical actions of the prosecutor, Ken Anderson, with the withholding of evidence that could have proven Morton’s innocence.
As a result, in the case of the West Memphis Three law enforcement and the legal system seem so hurried about placing these three teenage boys behind bars even though they didn’t have the right people in prison. They had a created a messy investigation without any evidence leading to the defendants. Also when there is a confession that is false when there is scientific evidence most commonly DNA that definitively establishes the defendant’s innocence (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 166). The West Memphis Three in 1993 is about the bodies of three young eight-year-old boys - Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers – were found bound, mutilated and drowned in a drainage canal in the Robin Hood Hills neighborhood of West Memphis. The detectives used coercive interrogation that was demonstrated in the documentary.
The Merriam Webster definition of a witch hunt is, “the act of unfairly looking for and punishing people who are accused of having opinions that are believed to be dangerous or evil.” (“witch hunt”) However, a definition that describes a witch hunt more specifically is, “the punishing of people with abnormal views through false accusations, and scapegoats, all within an atmosphere of fear and hysteria.” The McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial is a seven year long 1980’s trial that happened in Manhattan Beach, CA, where Ray Buckey, the owner of McMartin preschool, had been accused of molesting Judy Johnson’s two year old son. This leaded to the longest and most expensive criminal trial in history.
On March 25, 1931, the Scottsboro Boys were convicted and sentenced to death for raping two white girls, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, on a train setting course to Memphis, Tennessee. All were sentenced to death but one whose name was Leroy “Roy” Wright was instead sentenced into life in prison. The struggle for the justice of Wright that he was an innocent man states an exemplary of racism through the concepts of the case and concrete details supporting it.
