Scottsboro Boys Pardoned Posthomously.

JUSTICE DELAYED is JUSTICE DENIED. But, It's Better Late Than Never!!

Alabama's parole board granted posthumous pardons Thursday, 21 November 2013, in the notorious "Scottsboro Boys" case of the 1930s, which became a potent symbol of racial injustice and led to landmark legal decisions.

The three men pardoned— Charles Weems, Andy Wright and Haywood Patterson —were among nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama in 1931. Within weeks, eight were convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries in Scottsboro, Ala., amid a racially charged atmosphere. The judge declared a mistrial for 13-year-old Roy Wright.

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(Four of the defendants in the `Scottsboro Boys' case are led into a Decatur, Ala., courtroom on April 6, 1933.AP)

What ensued was a yearslong legal battle that included three rounds of trials. The men spent varying amounts of time in prison, but all eventually were paroled, pardoned or freed. The last defendant died in 1989.

The Scottsboro case triggered outrage and protests that some consider a precursor to the civil-rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. It reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice, yielding significant rulings on the right to legal counsel and the exclusion of Blacks from juries. It inspired songs, books, poetry and even a Broadway musical in 2010.

"We're real proud that it's over with," said state Rep. John Robinson, a Democrat from Scottsboro. "It was one of the grossest injustices that has ever been done in this country."

Activists and historians have long pressed the state to pardon the defendants and commemorate their case, said Rev. Robert Shanklin, a pastor who serves on the executive committee of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center.

In April, Alabama lawmakers unanimously passed a measure to allow the state's Board of Pardons & Paroles to grant posthumous pardons to the Scottsboro defendants. A petition seeking the pardons was signed by all the circuit judges and district attorneys in the two counties where the defendants were convicted. The board found that five of the defendants were ineligible under the law because their convictions had been overturned and charges against them dropped in 1937. A sixth, Clarence Norris, was pardoned by Gov. George Wallace in 1976. The board unanimously voted to pardon the three remaining defendants.

"Clearly, it's just long, long, long overdue," said James A. Miller, an American studies professor at George Washington University (GWU) and author of a book about the Scottsboro cases. He lamented that the pardons came too late for the defendants, whose lives were ruined. But he said he hoped the board's actions would "generate deeper and widespread interest, not only in the case, but in the historic vagaries of American justice."

Those who pushed for the pardons said they hoped the actions would help the state close a searing chapter in its history. "We are a long way from where we were in the '30s in Alabama," said Glenn Thompson, a circuit judge in Morgan County, Ala., who was among those who petitioned the parole board for the pardons. "It's largely a symbolic gesture at this point, but it's better late than never."

(Wall Street Journal; Campo-Flores, Arian and McWhirter, Cameron)

Black Like Me!

 Pretending To Be Black a Texan, Dave Wilson, Wins Election 

A white electrician in Houston, known for mailing out homophobic fliers to Houston voters against the city’s lesbian mayor, recently won a seat on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees after misleading voters in his overwhelming African American district into thinking he was Black.
Dave Wilson defeated the 24-year incumbent, Bruce Austin, who actually is Black, by circulating campaign materials featuring stock images of Black people he found on the internet with captions like “Please vote for our friend and neighbor Dave Wilson.”
Some fliers faked an endorsement from a former state representative and African American Ron Wilson.
Wilson says the fine print on the materials “Endorsed by Ron Wilson” explains that Rob Wilson is his cousin, who lives in Iowa.
"He's a nice cousin," Wilson told KHOU, while trying not to laugh. "We played baseball in high school together. And he's endorsed me."
Republican Wilson beat Democrat Austin by a margin of only 26 votes.
Wilson previously lost a mayoral election as a fringe candidate. He ran on an anti-gay marriage, anti-civil union platform.
He has no qualms with pretending to be Black.
“Every time a politician talks, he’s out there deceiving voters,” he said.
He said he was fed up with the “shenanigans” of the Houston Community College System.
Wilson’s campaign took Austin by surprise. The Democratic incumbent tried to counter the fliers. He called Wilson a "right-wing hate monger" who "advocated bringing back chain gangs to clean highways." But his efforts were unsuccessful.
"I'd always said it was a long shot," Wilson admitted. "No, I didn't expect to win."
 (By Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht)
NOTE!!
Black Like Me is a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. Griffin was a white native of Dallas, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience traveling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia passing as a Black man. Sepia Magazine financed the project in exchange for the right to print the account first as a series of articles.
Griffin kept a journal of his experiences; the 188-page diary was the genesis of the book.
In 1959, at the time of the book's writing, race relations were particularly strained in America; Griffin's aim was to explain the difficulties facing Black people in certain areas. Under the care of a doctor, Griffin artificially darkened his skin to pass as a Black man.
In 1964, a film version of Black Like Me starring James Whitmore was produced.
Robert Bonazzi subsequently published the book Man in the Mirror: John Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me.
The title of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem "Dream Variations".

Dream Variations

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

(By Langston Hughes)

Conduct Preface

CONDUCT UNBECOMING an Officer and a Lady

                                                             

“A Case That Will Live In Infamy-

The Conviction of Cadet Webster Smith”

Copyright © 2011 by London Steverson

Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Lady

First Edition, Paperback – published 2011

ISBN 13: 978-1460978023

ISBN 10: 1460978021

All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Merle James Smith, the best friend I had as a cadet at the United States Coast Guard Academy (CGA). Without his friendship I may have never graduated from the CGA or entered the National Law Center, George Washington University. He gave me the incentive to endure. And the rest is history.

.

Table of Contents

 

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER  1

The Gathering Storm

CHAPTER  2

The Honor Concept

CHAPTER 3

Before The Court-martial

The Article 32 Investigation

CHAPTER  4

Webster Smith Filed Article 138 Complaint

CHAPTER  5

The Runaway Jury

CHAPTER  6

Go Straight To Jail

CHAPTER   7

The Man Who Perverted Justice At The USCGA

CHAPTER  8

Who Played The Race Card In The Webster Smith Case?

CHAPTER 9

This Too Will Pass

CHAPTER 10

No Review, No Comment

CHAPTER 11

THE AFTERMATH

NOTES.

APPENDIXES

Appendix 1

A Letter To The Convening Authority

Appendix 2

A Letter To The Southern Poverty Law Center

Appendix 3

A Letter To The NAACP

Appendix 4

The Appeals Begin

Appendix 5

Webster Smith Appeals The Conviction

Appendix 6

Letter From Admiral James Van Sice to USCGA Alumni

Appendix 7

This Is The Ultimate Issue On Appeal As Decided By The Trial Judge, Captain Brian Judge

Appendix 8

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ARMED FORCES

Appendix 9

Decision of United States Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals, With Appendixes

Appendix 10

Decision of Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF)

Appendix  11

Appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court For A Writ Of Certiarori (with Appendixes)

Appendix  12

Amicus Brief in Support of Supreme Court Appeal from U S Army Defense Appellate Division

Appendix  13

Decision of Supreme Court Without Comment Denying Certiorari

PREFACE

GENERAL COURT-MARTIAL

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

UNITED STATES

v.

WEBSTER M. SMITH, CADET, U.S. COAST GUARD

FILED UNDER SEAL[*]

MEMORANDUM ORDER AND OPINION FINDINGS OF FACT

During the summer training program at the start of their first class year, Cadet Smith and Cadet [SR] were both assigned to patrol boats that moored at Station Little Creek. Both lived in barracks rooms at the Station…she went on to state that on October 19^th….she agreed to pose for a picture with him in which both of them were nude, and later that night allowed him to perform cunnilingus on her then she performed fellatio on him.

___________________________________

…. the Government’s objection that this evidence is inadmissible in accordance with M.R.E. 413 [sic] is SUSTAINED.

EFFECTIVE DATE

This order was effective on 26 May 2006.

Done at Washington, DC,

/s/

Brian Judge

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard

Military Judge

Article 133. CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICE AND A LADY:

Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a lady or gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. (10 USC Sec. 933)

Sixth Amendment - Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Read more at http://www.amazon.com/Judge-London-Steverson/e/B006WQKFJM