George Junius Stinney Jr. was, at age 14, the youngest black person executed in the United States in the 20th century (1944) The boy was small for his age (5'1) so small, they had to stack books on the electric chair. This clip is from the movie "Carolina Skeletons" which is based on that event.
Because there was literally no evidence against him (accused of murdering two white girls) ...the question of Stinney's guilt and the judicial process leading to his execution remain controversial (ie. there's a strong possibility they executed an INNOCENT person)
Q. why post this video? A. "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it"
South Carolina lawyers Steve McKenzie, Shaun Kent and Ray Chandler are supporting George Frierson in an attempt to obtain a posthumous pardon for Stinney. Frierson is a researcher from Alcolu who came across the case in 2005 while doing black historical research. McKenzie in an interview in 2011 said he has no doubt this case was an injustice. He said that the lack of preserved evidence made clearing Stinney’s name difficult, but he hoped that the affidavits of three new witnesses, one of which could provide an alibi, would be enough to re-open the case. If we can get the case re-opened, we can go to the judge and say, ‘There wasn’t any reason to convict this child. There was no evidence to present to the jury. There was no transcript. This case needs to be re-opened. This is an injustice that needs to be righted.’ I’m pretty optimistic that if we can get the witnesses we need to come forward, we will be successful in court. We hopefully have a witness that’s going to say — that’s non-family, non-relative witness — who is going to be able to tie all this in and say that they were basically an alibi witness. They were there with Mr. Stinney and this did not occur. —Steve McKenzie George Frierson stated in interviews that “...there has been a person that has been named as being the culprit, who is now deceased. And it was said by the family that there was a deathbed confession.” Frierson said that the rumored culprit came from a well-known, prominent white family. A member, or members of that family, had served on the initial coroner’s inquest jury which had recommended that Stinney be prosecuted.[8] [edit]Books and films about Stinney's case
The case was the basis for the 1988 novel Carolina Skeletons by David Stout, who received for it the 1989 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel.[10] Stout suggests in the novel that Stinney, whom he renames Linus Bragg, was innocent. The plot arises around a fictitious nephew of Stinney/Bragg, who unravels the truth about the case decades later and learns on the way about brighter and darker sides of Stinney's/Bragg's town. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name (also known as The End of Silence) directed by John Erman, featuring Kenny Blank as Stinney/Linus Bragg. Lou Gossett, Jr. played Stinney's/Bragg's younger brother James,[11] who takes over the role of the nephew in the novel. Blank received for his portrayal of Stinney/Bragg a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actor in a Television Movie in 1993.[12]
