Justice 94 Years Too Late

Tom Joyner, a nationally syndicated radio host, raised his hand in victory. "I hope now they rest in peace," Tom Joyner said of his two great-uncles who were wrongfully executed. Almost a century has gone by since his great uncles, Thomas and Meeks Griffin, were wrongfully convicted and executed in South Carolina. The Parole board recently pardoned both men by a vote of 7-0, clearing them of the 1913 killing of a veteran of the Confederate Army. It marks the first time in history that South Carolina has issued a posthumous pardon in a capital murder case. "It really, really feels good," Joyner stated during an interview on CNN. Joyner made the journey to Columbia, South Carolina, with his wife, his sons, his brother and nieces and nephews. He also stated that they danced, and hugged and kissed when the board announced its decision. It took only about 25 minutes for their pardon, nearly a century in the making. "It's good for the community. It's good for the nation, he said.

Anytime that you can repair racism in this country is a step forward," Joyner said. He said the ruling won't bring back his great-uncles, who were electrocuted in 1915. But it does provide closure to his family. "I hope now they rest in peace." Many who were present were touched by the symbolism and significance of the moment. Peter O'Boyle, the chief spokesman for the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and an African-American member of the pardon board, said that "I felt that I was a witness to a historical event, It was pretty exciting around here" and that he admired Joyner for seeking the pardon. "He's not only done his family a service, but also the people of South Carolina." "There's no statute of limitations on doing the right thing," Green said. "There's so much good that can come out of this public show of mercy." The unanimous vote, he said, was heartwarming and satisfying. "It's a great opportunity to show how much South Carolina has changed," he said.

"While change comes slow, outcomes like this are a positive sign." Joyner, host of "The Tom Joyner Morning Show," didn't know anything about the murder convictions of his great-uncles until last year. That's when Henry Louis Gates Jr., an esteemed Harvard professor, uncovered Joyner's past as part of the PBS documentary "African American Lives 2." In a documentary, Joyner explained that he never knew why his grandmother left South Carolina. "All I know is she left home and she ended up in Florida and she didn't stay in touch with her people, either," Joyner says. Gates then asked him if he knew why his grandmother. Joyner replied "No, I have no idea." Gates then showed him his great uncles' death certificates listing the Cause of death as "Legal electrocution,". "They electrocuted my --" an astonished Joyner was unable to finish his sentence. That is when Joyner began the journey that led him to the pardon.

Gates and historian Paul Finkelman, a legal historian, helped Joyner with the research of his family history, and also helped lobby the State of South Carolina to pardon the two Griffin brothers. This was not the first pardon that had been sought for the two men. According to the research done by Gates and Finkleman, more than 150 citizens of Blackstock, South Carolina, asked the governor at the time to have their sentences commuted. Many prominent whites in the community, including the mayor and former sheriff of Chester County, came to the defense of the Griffin brothers. One Magistrate essentially wrote that he didn't think he could have voted guilty. The Griffin brothers were well-liked in the community and had owned 130 acres in the area. They were convicted of killing John Q. Lewis, a 73-year-old veteran of the Civil War. Lewis was slain in his home on April 24, 1913.

"Only the most profound sense of injustice would have led so many white leaders of the community and ordinary white citizens to publicly show their support of two black men convicted of murdering a white man," Finkelman said in a letter to the board of paroles and pardons. According to the research uncovered by Finkelman, Lewis, who was a former Confederate soldier, had a serious relationship with Anna Davis, a married 22-year-old black woman. Suspicion immediately turned towards her and her husband after the murder. "It is plausible to believe that the sheriff did not want to pursue Mr. and Mrs. Davis because if they were tried, it would have led to a scandalous discussion in open court," Finkelman wrote to the pardon board on October 2, 2008. The investigation then turned to another man, Monk Stevenson, who wound up pointing police to the Griffin brothers and two other black men. Stevenson ultimately received a life sentence in exchange for his testimony.

"Sometime later Stevenson told a fellow inmate that he had implicated the Griffin brothers because he believed they were wealthy enough to pay for legal counsel, and as such would be acquitted," Finkelman said. The Griffin brothers and the two other men, John Crosby and Nelson Brice were convicted in a trial that lasted four days. They were electrocuted on September 29, 1915. Joyner now says he urges all African-Americans to explore their pasts -- no matter how difficult that journey may be. "You can look at your ancestor struggles of the past and be encouraged. If they can go through what they went through, you can do much better," he said. His journey is continuing. He wants to know even more about his great-uncles -- what happened to their land, how they made the community better, which is what made them so well liked by whites even in segregated South Carolina. "Until we can repair some of the deeds of the past, we can't really look forward," he said.