14yo George Stinney Executed - True Story

[MrScorpio]

George Junius Stinney Jr., the 14-year-old Black boy who died as the youngest person ever executed in the United States in the 20th century, would have been 83-years-old this Sunday. Instead, his birthday will serve as a haunting reminder of why the death penalty needs to be abolished. When two White girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 8-year-old Mary Emma Thames, went missing in Alcolu, S.C., on March 22, 1944, after riding in to town on their bicycles, Stinney was arrested the following day for allegedly murdering them.

snip

Without his parents, Stinney was interrogated by several White officers for hours. A deputy eventually emerged announcing that Stinney had confessed to the girls’ murders. The young boy allegedly told the deputies that he wanted to have sex with the 11-year-old girl, but had to kill the younger one to do it. When the 8-year-old supposedly refused to leave, he allegedly killed both of them because they refused his sexual advances.

To coerce his confession, deputies reportedly offered the child an ice cream cone. There is no record of a confession. No physical evidence that he committed the crime exists. His trial — if you want to call it that — lasted less than two hours. No witnesses were called. No defense evidence was presented. And the all-White jury deliberated for all of 10 minutes before sentencing him to death.

On June 16, 1944, his frail, 5-foot-1, 95-pound body was strapped in to an electric chair at a state correctional facility in Columbia, S.C. Dictionaries had to be stacked on the seat of the chair so that he could properly sit in the seat. But even that didn’t help. When the first jolts of electricity hit him, the head mask reportedly slipped off, revealing the agony on his face and the tears streaming down his cheeks. Only after several more jolts of electricity did the boy die.

http://newsone.com/2061550/george-junius-stinney-jr-birthday/

[PDJane]

1. Executing children for something they might or might not have done is barbaric.

[DhhD]

2. This happened in the State of South Carolina.

[NYC_SKP]

3. OMG. Our society is so very, very, sick.

We have not progressed NEARLY enough since 1944.

This sickness behind this horrid murder still exists today.

[Xipe Totec]

4. May God have mercy on the evil sons of bitches who murdered this child. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. The South uses the justice system for ethnic cleansing.

[MrScorpio]

6. New evidence could clear 14-year-old executed by South Carolina

Over 67 years after 14-year-old George Junius Stinney Jr. was put to death by the state of South Carolina, he may soon be cleared of the crime that people familiar with the case say he never could have committed.

A lawyer and an activist both told Raw Story recently that new evidence will show that the black boy could not have possibly murdered two white girls, 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and seven-year-old Mary Emma Thames.

Stinney, the youngest person to receive the death penalty in the last 100 years, was executed on June 16, 1944. At five feet one inch and only 95 pounds, the straps of the electric chair did not fit the boy. His feet could not touch the floor. As he was hit with the first 2,400-volt surge of electricity, the mask covering his face slipped off, “revealing his wide-open, tearful eyes and saliva coming from his mouth,” according to author Joy James.

After two more jolts of electricity, the boy was dead.

Less than three months earlier, Stinney, who had no previous history of violence, had been accused of the crime after he admitted speaking to the girls when they stopped by a field in Alcolu where he was grazing his cow to ask where they could find maypops, a type of flower. Authorities alleged Stinney had used a railroad spike to shatter both of the girls’ heads. The boy was taken into a room with several white officers and within an hour, they said he had confessed. Because there were no Miranda rights in 1944, Stinney was questioned without a lawyer and his parents were not allowed into the room.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/03/new-evidence-could-clear-14-year-old-executed-by-south-carolina/

[polly7]

9. '10 minutes' to decide a child should die, based on 0 evidence.

He tried to help find those little girls. This is just horrific.

[Moostache]

19. I hope that decision haunted every fucking one of the "jurors" / lynch mob on their death beds.

That is the sickest thing I have ever, ever heard. I can't believe that I never knew about this specific case and I am ashamed I did not. Sickening is too mild.

[cantbeserious]

7. The Barbarity Of Humanity For All To See

eom

[heaven05]

8. NOTHING!!!!!

surprises me when it comes to amerikas racist past and present.

[rug]

10. He was arrested, tried and executed, all within three months.

[SamKnause]

11. Death Penalty

Thank you for posting.

What is the title of the film the clip is from ?

[MrScorpio]

14. Carolina Skeletons

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101549/

[SamKnause]

15. Death Penalty 2

Thank you so very much.

Have a pleasant weekend.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. DU Rec

[Cane4Dems]

13. the south is the scum of the US

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. Well, thank you, Cane...can't tell you how much us Southern Dems like those broadbrush attacks.

Y'all have a real nice day, hear?

[bluemarkers]

34. prejudice and stupidity stops at the mason dixon line

and doesn't cross the Mississippi either

don'tja know nothing g.i.r.l.?

[Cane4Dems]

36. i made a very offensive statement and i appologize

i just was very upset after watching the video and in my mind there are loads of people in the south who would support doing what happened in the video even today

still it was wrong of me to write a generalized hurtful statement....obv not everyone in the south is "scum" as i was saying- what i meant was people who support or hold this type of thinking....still not justifying my statement so i hope you will accept my apology

[dixiegrrrrl]

38. Apology accepted...We have had a LOT of "south bashing" on DU, it is now being addressed.

Tis best if you consider that on DU, members who live in red states are "behind enemy lines"
and need the support and encouragement of blue state folks.
Moving out of red states is not an option for lots of us, esp. in a Depression.

Welcome to DU, looking forward to your support.

[Bluzmann57]

31. Wow. Generalize much?

Y'all may as well wear your birkenstocks and look down your oh so prissy nose at all who are not "equal" to your "standards".
Hell I'm from the upper Midwest and I find your post offensive. Crawl away into your parents basement and leave the real world to us that can handle it.

[Cane4Dems]

35. ok i made a very offensive statement

and i apologize for it....i was just very upset with the video and just made an impulsive statement that obv does not apply to all southerners

obv not everyone in the south is "scum" as i was saying- what i meant was people who support or hold this type of thinking....still not justifying my statement so i hope you will accept my apology

*btw i'm a college student and the with the way the job market is I guess i may well have to sleep in my parent's basement in the near future

[Bluzmann57]

46. Ok. Apology accepted

And good luck with your job search.
And unfortunately, there are people like those in the video everywhere. Even here in Iowa.

[sadbear]

16. They let the real murderer go free so that they could kill a black boy.

Priorities.

[WillyT]

17. K & R !!!

[libodem]

18. This is a death penalty culture

I've read several books on innocent men being rail roaded into the death penalty through forced confessions. I did not want to believe it because it is not what I grew up believing about justice in our country.

I think one was called, An Innocent Man. It's been a few years.

[AsahinaKimi]

20. disgusting

[MrScorpio]

21. The Execution of George Stinney

https://vimeo.com/37391971

[blackspade]

42. The fact that the piece is called....

Rush to Judgement?

speaks volumes.

[AAO]

22. The video freaked the shit out of me

and I knew they were just actors. I hope this kind of thing doesn't happen here anymore.

[SunSeeker]

23. Horrific.

[radicalliberal]

24. Political conservatism in action!

No wonder I became a liberal when I first thought about politics in this country!

[Newest Reality]

25. That brings tears to one's eyes.

Horrific and it takes literal, bona fide PSYCHOPATHS to do something like that.

Who was the Governor that they were waiting on the phone for the pardon from?

I hear about pro-life being popular in the South ... is that what it means?

[stlsaxman]

26. We "humans" are, without doubt, the vilest of all the animals.

[Chakab]

27. Disgusting, but the sad part is that there

are many people around even today that would argue that he was probably guilty because he "confessed." I just got into prolonged argument that lasted several days with a few co-workers about the Central Park Five. Many of the neanderthals that I work with continue to believe that they are guilty because they "confessed" in spite of the fact that said confessions were found to be rife with inconsistencies when the case was reexamined after the real rapist confessed. These people also believe that policy investigators never make mistakes or act with malicious intent.

I don't know why I bother anymore. It's not possible to argue with people who are irrational.

[PDJane]

28. On the contrary. One can argue with them, but it's impossible to make them see reason.

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2013, 07:53 PM - Edit history (1)

[StrayKat]

32. It's hard to imagine that even those who are misguided enough to be convinced of Stinney's guilt

would think that the best course of action, that they couldn't think of a more fitting punishment or course of action.

[indepat]

30. And those who brandish their Rebel (Confederate) flags just want to honor their heritage, which

imo, this heinous crime against a 14-year-old child of color is just one of the examples of this heritage, many of which were horrific.

[BrainMann1]

33. I see no purpose in showing this

We all know how sick this world is. I guess because I'm black I'm suppose to see some logic in this. Well I don't
you got me I'm pissed. Now you have to keep showing pictures and stories like this to show your humanity.

[Babel_17]

37. It's easy to romanticize the past

There were many beautiful things to the mid and early twentieth century; there was baseball, lazy Summer Sundays, quiet walks, good radio programs, great food, etc., and there was that which that picture embodies, raw, ignorant, hatred and systemic prejudice.

[LegalScholar]

39. Here's the guy who tried to bring back the death penalty in Illinois

http://countyleaks.blogspot.com/2013/04/tweets-twits-tax-dollars-joe-birkett.html

[EvolveOrConvolve]

40. There are certain people in the U.S. who should learn from this story

But they won't. The policies may have changed, but the attitudes of many have not.

[blackspade]

41. Fucking sick.

When the 'authorities' come up with 'theories' like this it makes me wonder what kind of sick fucks they are.

I mean who comes up with a theory like this about missing children?
Two girls go missing, and the first thing they think of is an African-American kid tried to have sex with them and killed them?
That is some sick shit.

The cops, the prosecutor, the judge, the prison guards, and the warden should all have their names and pictures on a billboard that says: "rotting in hell".

[blackspade]

43. oops!

I forgot the Jurors.

[Rhiannon12866]

44. OMG...

He's a just little kid... I've been here for over 10 years, so I've seen quite a bit. But there are still some stories than can really get to me, and this is sure one of them.

[In_The_Wind]

45. +1

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