The document on the posthumous pardon of the so-called “Martinsville Seven” was signed by the Governor of Virginia Ralph Northham.
A group of men between the ages of 18 and 37 were electrocuted in 1951.
A posting on the governor’s website notes that “these people were tried without due process of law and were sentenced to death on racial grounds, which was not similarly applied to white defendants.”
Northam himself thanked the relatives of the executed and their lawyers “for their dedication and perseverance.”
“Although we cannot change the past, I hope that today’s actions will bring them at least a little peace,” the governor explained.
“Voice of America” writes on Facebook that the incident that led to the execution of the “7” occurred in 1949 with Ruby Stroud Floyd, 32, in the “predominantly African American neighborhood” of Martinsville, where a woman went to collect money for clothes sold.
The relatives of the executed appealed to the Governor of Virginia for a pardon in December 2020.
“Martinsville Seven” did not receive due process “simply because they are black”, and were also sentenced to death for a crime for which a white man would not be executed, “- said the Voice of America.
Until Virginia abolished capital punishments in March 2021 the state was the second in the United States for the number of such sentences.
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