THE MARTINSVILLE SEVEN Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment

Softcover. A volume in the series Constitutionalism and Democracy. A book offering the first comprehensive treatment of the case of the Martinsville Seven, a group of young black men executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman in Martinsville, Virginia. Covering every aspect of the proceedings from the commission of the crime through two appeals, the author re-examines common assumptions about the administration of justice in the South. Although the defendants confessed to the crime, racial prejudice undeniably contributed to their eventual executions. The author highlights the efforts of their attorneys who, rather than focusing on procedural errors, directly attacked the discriminatory application of the death penalty. The Martinsville Seven case was the first instance in which statistical evidence was used to prove systematic discrimination against blacks in capital cases. Illus., Notes, Bibliog. and Index. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. with no creasing to covers.