The Virginia Governor Ralph Northam honored the memory of seven men who were executed for the rape of a white woman back in 1951 by pardoning them posthumously.
As reported by The Baltimore Sun, Governor Ralph Northam announced Tuesday (Aug. 31) that the Martinsville Seven, also known as The Martinsville Seven, would be pardoned, following a meeting with descendants of the men. In his remarks, the governor stressed that they were executed as a result of their race, and “That’s not right.”. They had been punished in an inequitable manner. There was no reason for their execution.
“We are here to right wrongs. Northam mentioned that all of us, regardless of who we are, what we look like or what our background is, deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and efficient.
Booker Millner, Francis DeSales Grayson, Howard Lee Hairston, Martinsville Seven Frank Hairston Jr., Joe Henry Hampton, John Clabon Taylor and James Luther Hairston, A white woman, 32-years-old Ruby Stroud Floyd, was convicted of raping her in 1949, while she was visiting Black communities for the purpose of collecting money to pay for outfits she had sold. They were convicted and executed within eight days because they did not receive due process due to their skin color.
Eventually, four of the men were put to death in an electric chair on February 2, 1951. Those who were left were electrocuted three days after the other men. When the alleged incident took place, rape was considered a capital offense at that time.
Northam cited unfair trials and unjust punishments in calling for posthumous pardons last December, according to descendants and other advocates of the men. “The Martinsville Seven were denied adequate due process “because they were Black”, thought to have been executed for crimes that a white person could not have committed “because they were black”, the attorneys wrote in a letter to the governor.
A state with the second-highest number of executions per capita in the country, Virginia, cancelled its death penalty in March of this year.
© 2021, Jonathan P-Wright. All rights reserved.
