Ana Curry

Race Should Not be a Factor in Death Penalty Cases in Georgia

In 1986 in Monroeville, Alabama, an 18-year old white woman named Ronda Morrison was murdered. The police were unable to solve the crime. After 6 months without any suspects or clues, police interest centered on Walter McMillian. Mr. McMillian had no previous criminal record and was a 45-year-old self-employed mFan who worked in the city as a logger. What appeared to draw the interest of the prosecution was that Mr. McMillian cheated on his wife with another woman. The police pressured a white man convicted of murder in another county to make false claims accusing Mr. McMillian of killing Ms. Morrison. This set off a chain of events which dramatically changed the life of Mr. McMillian. Sheriff Tom Tate of Monroe County arrested him, and charged him with capital murder. Even before his trial, Sheriff Tate arranged for Mr. McMillian to be placed on Alabama’s death row where he spent 15 months. In fact, Mr. McMillian was 11 miles away from the dry cleaner shop where Ms. Morrison was killed and was with his family. There were many Black people who were willing to testify about his innocence but they were dismissed. An almost all-white jury acquitted Mr. McMillian of capital murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. Judge Robert E. Lee Key overruled the life imprisonment verdict of the jury and sentenced him to death.

        People of color are more likely to be convicted for capital murder, sentenced to death, and executed in America, particularly if the victim in the case is white. The death penalty in the U.S. is a “direct descendant of lynching,” murders committed outside the formal legal system. Black citizens were 2⁄3 of executions in the 1930s. By 1950, the proportion of African Americans in the population of the South dropped to 22%, but 75% of people executed in the South were Black. In 1976, Georgia’s revised death penalty law was upheld by the Supreme Court and racial prejudice in the death penalty continued and other states such as Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana followed.

        Something you can do is sign petitions and go to marches for anti-death penalty movements. A great way to find these petitions and marches is going to Death Penalty Action’s website a a great website to learn more is Death Penalty Information Center. By doing this you are bringing awareness to the cause. If you are also trying to bring awareness to the death penalty you can send a letter to the govener of your state expressing your issue with the death penalty. You can also donate to organizations such as The Innocence Project, EJI, and ACLU.

Bibliography:

“Walter McMillian.” Equal Justice Initiative, 23 Jan. 2020, eji.org/cases/walter-mcmillian/.

Applebome, Peter. “Alabama Releases Man Held On Death Row for Six Years.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Mar. 1993, www.nytimes.com/1993/03/03/us/alabama-releases-man-held-on-death-row-for-six-years.html.

“Death Penalty.” Equal Justice Initiative, 19 Jan. 2021, eji.org/issues/death-penalty/.

Thorpe, JR. “7 Organizations Working To End The Death Penalty .” Bustle, Bustle, 15 Dec. 2020, www.bustle.com/politics/anti-death-penalty-organizations-support.