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Post by Rev. Agave on Jun 30, 2011 13:42:08 GMT -6
www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/child/5.htmlThe weeks passed as Stinney languished in prison. Some local organizations, like the N.A.A.C.P., churches and unions appealed to Governor Olin D. Johnston to stop the execution. The Daily Item reported on June 13, 1944 "The A.M.E. Church protested to Governor Olin D. Johnston in a telegram the imminent execution June 16 of a 14 year old Negro boy convicted of the murder of a young white girl". A few days before the scheduled date, the Associated Press published a story on the Stinney case. The Governor's office received hundreds of pleas to intervene in the name of mercy and fairness. Many cited Stinney's age as an extraordinary factor that deserved consideration. One message received by the Governor's Office read: "Child execution is only for Hitler" (Brock, p. D2). Others, however, had their own reasons for Stinney to die: "Sure glad to hear of your decision regarding the *deleted* Stinney" (Bruck, p. D2). Governor Johnston was unmoved by public sentiment and decided not to intervene. The Daily Item wrote: "The Governor said Friday he had studied the case and found no reason to intervene making this statement after the C.I.O., Tobacco Worker's Union, the National Maritime Union and the White and Negro Ministerial Unions at Charleston asked him to commute the sentence to life imprisonment (June 13, 1944).
On the morning of June 16, 1944, a year in which 120 other convicts were executed in America's prisons (U.S. Department of Justice), George Junius Stinney Jr. began his last walk on this earth at 7:30 AM. He carried a bible under one arm as he was escorted to the electric chair by prison guards. Stinney was of slight build. The teen-ager weighed just over 90 lbs and stood 5 feet, 1 inch tall. Since the electric chair was designed and constructed for adults, the attendants had a difficult time strapping him firmly into the seat. The mask that fitted upon the face also did not fit properly. Witnesses to the execution included Betty June's father and brother Raymond. "Stinney refused to make any statement when given the opportunity by prison officials" (Daily Item, June 17, 1944). It was reported that the force of the electricity caused the mask to slip away from Stinney's head, exposing his face to the gallery. Witnesses, it was said, would never forget the horror etched on Stinney's childlike face in those final moments. He was pronounced dead less than four minutes later[1].
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Post by Rev. Agave on Jun 30, 2011 13:45:32 GMT -6
The crime: www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/child/1.htmlOn the sunny afternoon of March 24, 1944, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and her friend, Mary Emma Thames, age 8, had just left their homes to pick flowers. They were alternately walking and riding Betty's bicycle along the railroad tracks that ran through Alcolu. The girls often played in this area on the opposite side of the town. By any measure, it was a beautiful spring day: the trees just beginning to bud, the first flowers of the season blooming among the tall grass along the tracks. As they ran and skipped their way through the grass, they saw a young black man along the same path. He also lived in this small lumber-producing town and both girls knew him. Everyone knew everyone else in Alcolu, it was that kind of place. However, within minutes, both girls lay dead on the ground, their skulls brutally bashed in by a huge railroad spike. Their bodies were dragged through the grass and dumped into a small ravine. Immediately after the murders, the killer hid the bloody weapon in the bushes and began the leisurely walk home. He seemed unconcerned and it is doubtful that he truly understood the repercussions of what he had done.
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Post by Rev. Agave on Jun 30, 2011 13:54:20 GMT -6
Here is a depiction of the execution in a European movie. The words are not in English, and there are no subtitles. In the movie, his name was changed to Linus Bragg:
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Post by Rev. Agave on Jun 30, 2011 14:15:49 GMT -6
My thoughts:
Given his age and the racial attitudes of the time, it's easy for liberals to portray Stinney as a sympathetic executee. But we must never forget the brutal nature of his crime. Although he might have been small in stature, the evilness in his heart was enormous. Had he been allowed to grow up, there is no doubt that he would have been the perpetrator of even more wickedness. So regardless of whether you support capital justice, Stinney was not, and should not be regarded as, a victim.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2011 20:35:09 GMT -6
I remember that case from a doco. They said he would have unlikely been executed if his lawyer even submitted an appeal even 1 sentence long
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Post by Rev. Agave on Jun 30, 2011 20:48:16 GMT -6
I remember that case from a doco. They said he would have unlikely been executed if his lawyer even submitted an appeal even 1 sentence long All the more reason to thankful that justice was served!
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Post by olivebranch on Jul 8, 2011 23:22:48 GMT -6
This poor kid was almost surely innocent and coerced into confessing because he happened to be the closest African American to the area where the crime took place. I find it hard to believe that a child his size could have committed the murders but who cares right? He's black so he'll do.
And some wonder why I'm at times ashamed of this country.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2011 0:24:59 GMT -6
Oliveoyl,
Not this kid. There was more evidence then his confession. There was no question of his guilt.
Though if his lawyer was better he would not have been executed
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Post by Rev. Agave on Jul 9, 2011 5:16:32 GMT -6
www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/child/3.htmlDeputy H.S. Newman later described the event for the court: "I was notified that the bodies had been found. I went down to where the bodies were at. I found Mary Emma she was rite at the edge of the ditch with four or five wounds on her head, on the other side of the ditch the Binnicker girl, were laying there with 4 or 5 wounds in her head, the bicycle which the little girls had were side of the little Binnicker girl. By information I received I arrested a boy by the name of George Stinney, he then made a confession and told me where a piece of iron about 15 inches long were, he said he put it in a ditch about 6 feet from the bicycle which was lying in the ditch" (from Deputy Newman's written statement, March 26, 1944). Later that same day, Stinney voluntarily led police to the crime scene, a short distance outside of the town, where the murder weapon, a large railroad spike, at least 14 inches long, was recovered.
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Post by olivebranch on Jul 9, 2011 12:56:18 GMT -6
www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/child/3.htmlDeputy H.S. Newman later described the event for the court: "I was notified that the bodies had been found. I went down to where the bodies were at. I found Mary Emma she was rite at the edge of the ditch with four or five wounds on her head, on the other side of the ditch the Binnicker girl, were laying there with 4 or 5 wounds in her head, the bicycle which the little girls had were side of the little Binnicker girl. By information I received I arrested a boy by the name of George Stinney, he then made a confession and told me where a piece of iron about 15 inches long were, he said he put it in a ditch about 6 feet from the bicycle which was lying in the ditch" (from Deputy Newman's written statement, March 26, 1944). Later that same day, Stinney voluntarily led police to the crime scene, a short distance outside of the town, where the murder weapon, a large railroad spike, at least 14 inches long, was recovered. By led to the crime scene I think that they really mean "taken to the crime scene by the police". I just don't buy it. Nor do I believe someone that small could commit the crime. He was simply the closest and unluckiest black male in the area. It was a horrible crime and the community demanded a scalp and that scalp had to come from a minority. Nothing else would have been acceptable.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2011 21:42:35 GMT -6
There are probably other subjects that warrant more sympathy then this fellow..
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