The Groveland Four

Black FreeThinkers

Please join us as we discuss the Groveland Four with Carol Greenlee (daughter of wrongly convicted Charles Greenlee). Earnest Thomas, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin were accused of raping a 17-year-old white woman in Lake County, Florida in 1948. They were convicted of a crime, minus any evidence, by an all white jury. In November 1951, NAACP Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall had the death penalty verdicts overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The four men were posthumously exonerated on April 18, 2017 by a resolution passed by the Florida House of Representatives. The state also apologized to their families for the racial injustice of the case, and lawmakers called on Florida Governor Rick Scott to officially pardon the men. Please contact the Florida Clemency board to see a pardon for the four young men who were wrongly accused and convicted of a crime that they didn't convict. You can find more resources and help to amplify this tragedy by using #PardonGrovelandFour. Recommended reading: Gilbert King's "DEVIL IN THE GROVE." Gary Cosair's “Legal Lynching: The Sad Saga of the Groveland Four.” PBS Documentary: The Groveland Four.