George Stinney Jr.

George Stinney Jr.

George Stinney Jr. was an African American teenager from South Carolina who was convicted of murdering two white girls in 1944 and executed at age 14. In 2014, a South Carolina judge vacated his conviction, ruling that he had been denied due process and did not receive a fair trial. His case is widely cited in discussions of wrongful conviction, race, and capital punishment in the United States.

Early life

George Stinney Jr. was born on October 21, 1929, and lived in Alcolu, South Carolina. At age 14, he was arrested in connection with the killings of Mary Emma Thames and Betty June Binnicker.

1944 conviction and execution

Stinney was tried and convicted in 1944 for the deaths of two white girls. He was executed by electric chair on June 16, 1944, at age 14. Accounts of the case note the speed of the proceedings and the absence of a meaningful appeal.

2014 vacatur of conviction

In 2014, a South Carolina circuit judge vacated Stinney's conviction. Judge Carmen Mullen used a writ of coram nobis to set aside the conviction, finding constitutional violations and ineffective defence. The ruling did not constitute a new criminal trial but set aside the earlier conviction on due-process grounds.

Legacy

Stinney's case became a prominent example in discussions of wrongful conviction, Jim Crow-era injustice, and capital punishment. He is the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century. His case is frequently referenced in debates about racial injustice and the death penalty, alongside other notable wrongful conviction cases such as Guy Paul Morin, David Milgaard, and Central Park Five. The case is mainly of U.S. legal and historical interest, but it is relevant to Canadian readers because it is often used in broader discussions of wrongful conviction, due process, racial discrimination, and the death penalty.