Race, Rape, and Injustice : Documenting and Challenging Death Penalty Cases in the Civil Rights Era
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| Title: | Race, Rape, and Injustice : Documenting and Challenging Death Penalty Cases in the Civil Rights Era |
|---|---|
| Description: | This book tells the dramatic story of twenty-eight law students—one of whom was the author—who went south at the height of the civil rights era and helped change death penalty jurisprudence forever.The 1965 project was organized by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which sought to prove statistically whether capital punishment in southern rape cases had been applied discriminatorily over the previous twenty years. If the research showed that a disproportionate number of African Americans convicted of raping white women had received the death penalty regardless of nonracial variables (such as the degree of violence used), then capital punishment in the South could be abolished as a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.Targeting eleven states, the students cautiously made their way past suspicious court clerks, lawyers, and judges to secure the necessary data from dusty courthouse records. Trying to attract as little attention as possible, they managed—amazingly—to complete their task without suffering serious harm at the hands of white supremacists. Their findings then went to University of Pennsylvania criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, who compiled and analyzed the data for use in court challenges to death penalty convictions. The result was powerful evidence that thousands of jurors had voted on racial grounds in rape cases.This book not only tells Barrett Foerster's and his teammates story but also examines how the findings were used before a U.S. Supreme Court resistant to numbers-based arguments and reluctant to admit that the justice system had executed hundreds of men because of their skin color. Most important, it illuminates the role the project played in the landmark Furman v. Georgia case, which led to a four-year cessation of capital punishment and a more limited set of death laws aimed at constraining racial discrimination. |
| Authors: | Michael Meltsner, Barrett J. Foerster |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Race discrimination--Law and legislation--Unit, African Americans--Civil rights--History, Capital punishment--History.--United States, African Americans--Civil rights--History.--S, Rape--History.--Southern States, Civil rights movements--History.--United State, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century |
| Categories: | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Lawyers & Judges, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Judicial Branch |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: nlebk DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) An: 501769 RelevancyScore: 1044 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: eBook PubTypeId: ebook PreciseRelevancyScore: 1044.26904296875 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Race, Rape, and Injustice : Documenting and Challenging Death Penalty Cases in the Civil Rights Era – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: This book tells the dramatic story of twenty-eight law students—one of whom was the author—who went south at the height of the civil rights era and helped change death penalty jurisprudence forever.The 1965 project was organized by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which sought to prove statistically whether capital punishment in southern rape cases had been applied discriminatorily over the previous twenty years. If the research showed that a disproportionate number of African Americans convicted of raping white women had received the death penalty regardless of nonracial variables (such as the degree of violence used), then capital punishment in the South could be abolished as a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.Targeting eleven states, the students cautiously made their way past suspicious court clerks, lawyers, and judges to secure the necessary data from dusty courthouse records. Trying to attract as little attention as possible, they managed—amazingly—to complete their task without suffering serious harm at the hands of white supremacists. Their findings then went to University of Pennsylvania criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, who compiled and analyzed the data for use in court challenges to death penalty convictions. The result was powerful evidence that thousands of jurors had voted on racial grounds in rape cases.This book not only tells Barrett Foerster's and his teammates story but also examines how the findings were used before a U.S. Supreme Court resistant to numbers-based arguments and reluctant to admit that the justice system had executed hundreds of men because of their skin color. Most important, it illuminates the role the project played in the landmark Furman v. Georgia case, which led to a four-year cessation of capital punishment and a more limited set of death laws aimed at constraining racial discrimination. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Michael+Meltsner%22">Michael Meltsner</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Barrett+J%2E+Foerster%22">Barrett J. Foerster</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Race+discrimination--Law+and+legislation--Unit%22">Race discrimination--Law and legislation--Unit</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans--Civil+rights--History%22">African Americans--Civil rights--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Capital+punishment--History%2E--United+States%22">Capital punishment--History.--United States</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+Americans--Civil+rights--History%2E--S%22">African Americans--Civil rights--History.--S</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rape--History%2E--Southern+States%22">Rape--History.--Southern States</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Civil+rights+movements--History%2E--United+State%22">Civil rights movements--History.--United State</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22BIOGRAPHY+%26+AUTOBIOGRAPHY+%2F+Historical%22">BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22HISTORY+%2F+United+States+%2F+20th+Century%22">HISTORY / United States / 20th Century</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22BIOGRAPHY+%26+AUTOBIOGRAPHY+%2F+Lawyers+%26+Judges%22">BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Lawyers & Judges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22HISTORY+%2F+United+States+%2F+20th+Century%22">HISTORY / United States / 20th Century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22POLITICAL+SCIENCE+%2F+American+Government+%2F+Judicial+Branch%22">POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Judicial Branch</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 345.730253208996073075 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Race discrimination--Law and legislation--Unit Type: general – SubjectFull: African Americans--Civil rights--History Type: general – SubjectFull: Capital punishment--History.--United States Type: general – SubjectFull: African Americans--Civil rights--History.--S Type: general – SubjectFull: Rape--History.--Southern States Type: general – SubjectFull: Civil rights movements--History.--United State Type: general – SubjectFull: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical Type: general – SubjectFull: HISTORY / United States / 20th Century Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Race, Rape, and Injustice : Documenting and Challenging Death Penalty Cases in the Civil Rights Era Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Michael Meltsner – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Barrett J. Foerster – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Michael Meltsner – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Barrett J. Foerster IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2012 – D: 04 M: 02 Type: profile Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781572338623 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781621908197 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781572339224 Titles: – TitleFull: Race, Rape, and Injustice : Documenting and Challenging Death Penalty Cases in the Civil Rights Era Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
