This case proceeded in London and was said to be a strong influence in the abolishment of capital punishment in the United Kingdom. Evans was executed in 1950 for the murder of his wife and 13-month-old daughter. Evans maintained his innocence through the whole trial and told investigators that his neighbor, John Christie murdered his family. There was not much evidence against Evans and the case was said to be really weak but he was still executed on March 9, 1950. The police coerced Timothy Evans into a false confession by threatening him.
The judge in their case harbored negative sentiments towards the two men, because of his own conservative Yankee Republican standing. Despite the support from many influential people such as Felix Frankfurter, Eugene Debs, Ben Shahn, John Dos Passos, and Edna St. Vincent Millay, large groups of people rallied against them. The conservatives of the time called for the death of the anarchist immigrants, and the nativists harped on the immigrant origins of the two men. Unfortunately, the two men, after having gone through an unfair trial, were found guilty in 1921. After many years of appeals and delays, Sacco and Vanzetti were put to death by electric chair on August 23rd, 1927.
United States. Brandon Mayfield was detained for being falsely accused of involvement with the 2004 Madrid train bombings due to an erroneously read fingerprint (Mayfield v. United States, 2010). Authorities jumped the gun when they thought Mayfield’s fingerprint was an 100% match to the fingerprint on the bag containing explosives in Madrid. Once Mayfield was found to have no involvement in the bombing he was released and offered monetary compensation for the distress caused to his family and himself. However, no monetary amount could correct the trauma that was brought upon this man by his own government.
In October 1947, the Committee began to subpoena screenwriters, directors, and other professionals about their known or suspected membership in the Communist Party. This was called the “Black List”, also known as the “Hollywood Ten”, they cited the First Amendment, but this tactic failed and they were sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress (Wales and Sanger). The military was also at risk and 83 alleged Communist were discharged, also nearly 3,000 seamen and longshoremen lost their jobs due to this cause (Drummey). Suspected homosexuality was also common cause for being a target for McCarthyism. In many cases simply being subpoenaed was sufficient cause to be fired and blamed for this horrific
The money they were carrying, some fifteen thousand dollars, was stolen. Witnesses said five people had taken part in the holdup. The police arrested two Italian immigrants; Nicola Sacco, shoemaker and Bartolomo Vanzetti, a fish peddler. Both were admitted anarchists (people who believe in the destruction of all governments) and draft dodgers. This took place at the height of the Red Scare.
Restrictions on Civil Liberties These are just a few events that show the restrictions on civil liberties. Red Scare, Prohibition, Palmer Raids, Trials of Sacco and Vanzetti. The Red Scare is the fear of the rise of communism or radical leftism. The Red Scare began following the Bolshevik Russian Revolution. Was a nationwide anti hysteria provoked by a mounting fear was a revolution that changed then American way of life.
A newcomer named George Crawford age 22 is trialed for first degree murder without the possibility of parole. Crawford admits “I ain’t no perfect child, I have sold drugs, I have stolen things, I have lied, I cheated but I’ve never killed anyone I ain’t perfect.” He dropped out of school when he was in 8th grade. The reason he dropped out was because he thought he could get material things faster. On October 4, 1959 Eugene “Bishop” Tannehill was only 24 years old when he first entered Angola Prison and was accused of murder. He said, “There
When things came to a crescendo, many leaders came together and secretly created our constitution. Not all the leaders were present however, both Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were not in attendance, both of them being advocates for state rights. As the American people heard of the new laws they felt they were being mistreated and demanded the right to erase federal laws, a policy called nullification. Nullification was harshly shot down by the federal government but people still fought for it, people like John C. Calhoun. However, the government continued to shoot down the idea and so the states began to consider secession.
Before Big Jim organized the crime in Chicago there was a separate group that controlled individualized labor unions, and one for gambling but they never worked together. John Torrio later took over what Big Jim had built after if had become larger and wealthier, and used it for a bootlegging empire. After Torrio was shot in January of 1925 he left Chicago, and Al Capone took over. Al Capone took over during the violent shooting war, which Capone’s gang ultimately achieved victory in by defeating, collaborating, or running away the other gangs. Capone’s career ended when he was charged and arrested for tax evasion by the federal
His followers, numbering around a hundred additionally incorporated a little bad-to-the-bone unit of naive youngsters. They started to accept, without inquiry, Manson's claims that he was Jesus and his predictions of a race war. Manson was declared guilty first degree murder for regulating the passing’s of the Tate/La Bianca exploited people. He was sentenced to death yet this was consequently driven to life in jail after the Californian's Supreme Court nullified all capital punishments