George Stinney's mugshots.

George Stinney's mugshots.

Seventy years after he was executed in South Carolina, George Stinney’s conviction was vacated by a state judge Wednesday on the grounds that he had not received a fair trial. Stinney, a 14-year-old black boy, was arrested in March 1944 for the murder of two white girls in Clarendon County, S.C. In less than three months, he was tried, convicted and put to death. He was the youngest person to be executed in the U.S. in the 20th century. Reports from the execution chamber said he was so small that the jolt of electricity knocked the mask from his face. In a 28-page order, Judge Carmen T. Mullen—who heard testimony on the case in January—did not rule on the merits of the murder charges against Stinney, but found that there were “fundamental, constitutional violations of due process” across the board.

Normally, I don't put a news excerpt fromin Night Owls, but I'm making an exception tonight to ensure that this awful story gets attention. Jesse Wegman writes Two white girls—ages 11 and 8—seen talking to Stinney and his sister at the Stinney property shortly before they were found murdered with severe head wounds. Based on that, he was arrested.

No warrant.

No lawyer during questioning.

No questions from the lawyer who defended him No cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses nor any calling of defense witnesses.

No physical evidence.

Nothing but the word of the police chief who said Stinney had confessed.

The all-white jury found him guilty in 10 minutes after a three-hour trial.

"Fundamental, constitutional violations"? No kidding.

Nothing other than a legal lynching.

It might take the edge off if we could say this story is unbelievably horrible. But it is all-too-believably horrible.

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2013—A bogus conversion on discrimination laws from a blue-state Republican up for re-election? No way!:







Corbett said Tuesday that he would support legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Corbett, who has previously staked out conservative positions on social issues, told The Inquirer that he was "coming out in support" of the bill after learning that federal law does not cover discrimination in the state. Corbett's been governor for three years, so he just figured out now that Congress never passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act? Is Wikipedia blocked by the servers at the state capitol? I mean, great that he's suddenly all for equality, but really, he could have worked harder on his excuses. "I used to serve as Pennsylvania's attorney general, but I know nothing about the law" pretty much sucks.

On today's Kagro in the Morning show , we're still talking about torture. You'd think it was important, or something. Does it make sense for Sen. Ron Wyden to introduce legislation on it? For Hillary Clinton to endorse the idea?rounded up judicial nomination news & commentary, the many implications of the Russian collapse, our own improving economic picture, and the coming Republican Medicaid expansion. Could torture start again?joined us for an extended segment on anti-torture legislation, Jeb-mentum, billion dollar spy blimps, Cuba, the curious case of Estefanía Isaías, and Antonio Weiss.