Photo: Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Seven Black men who were executed for an alleged rape in 1951 were pardoned in Virginia Tuesday, over 70 years after their conviction.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam posthumously pardoned the group, known as the Martinsville Seven, which included Francis DeSales Grayson, 37; Booker T. Millner, 19; Frank Hairston Jr., 19; Howard Lee Hairston, 18; James Luther Hairston, 20; Joe Henry Hampton, 19; and John Claybon Taylor, 21.
“While these pardons do not address the guilt of the seven, they serve as recognition from the Commonwealth that these men were tried without adequate due process and received a racially biased death sentence not similarly applied to white defendants,” Northam’s office said in a statement Tuesday, perCNN.
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“We all deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and gets it right – no matter who you are or what you look like. I’m grateful to the advocates and families of the Martinsville Seven for their dedication and perseverance,” Northam added, later saying, “While we can’t change the past, I hope today’s action brings them some small measure of peace.”
AP Photo/Henry Burroughs, File
Relatives of the men said they had been interrogated under duress and without a lawyer present. They also said the men had been coerced into confessing to the crime after being threatened with mob violence.
Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
“They did not deserve to die. Governor Northam should render an apology to the families of these seven men, stating that they should not have been executed,” said James Grayson, son of Francis DeSales Grayson. “It’s never too late to right a wrong.”
Curtis Millner, who was 9 when his cousin Booker T. Millner was executed, said he was “traumatized” and was “looking for closure.”
Virginia, which had previously executed more people than any other U.S. state, banned the death penalty earlier this year. According toa releasefrom the governor’s office, all 45 prisoners executed for rape in Virginia between 1908 to 1951 were Black men.
His latest pardon marks Northam’s 604th while in office, which is more than the past nine governors combined, according to his office.
“Pardons should not have to be a part of the process to ensure a fair and equitable justice system, but unfortunately that’s been the case for far too long,” Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson said in the release.
source: people.com
