Was Leo Frank Guilty for the Murder of Mary Phagan? Essay

A key factor in the case of Walter McMillian was that he was an African American man who at one point was respected by his community. However, an extramarital affair with a white woman is what crossed the line. Affairs were not out of the norm in the Monroeville community, but given the fact that McMillian was black dramatically changed what was perceived as socially acceptable behavior. The significant questioning of McMillian’s character came into play when a young woman, Ronda Morrison was murdered. The profound change in the community’s view toward McMillian was an incentive to point to him as the mastermind behind the murder. The police were unable to produce any viable suspects which led to pressure from the community to find and convict a killer – even if the person accused was innocent. The interrogation tactics used during the questioning of suspects and witnesses produced false allegations. Tactics such as intimidation and bargaining. These practices encompassed covert operations that allowed the law enforcement – police, district attorneys, judges – to navigate the case. Several people were instrumental in concocting the false story placing McMillian at the center of the crime. After his initial lie, Ralph Myers’s was pushed by police to produce additional information which although false, was used by police to arrest McMillian. As the story gained traction in the town,

The reason is because anti-Semitism and class played just as much of a role in the court case. As mentioned earlier, the urban elites who had maintained control of Georgia, were hated by the working class whites. Leo Frank was apart of the urban elite, and to make matters worse was the fact that he was also Jewish. Jews were stereotyped by anti-Semitics as dirty money stealers and takers of gentile women. With both his status in the elite as a business manager as well as his race, the odds were stacked highly against Leo Frank, despite his guilt. Even if he was innocent, he still would have probably been hanged due to his race and his elite status. Regardless of this fact, I think this article is a fantastic read for anybody who wishes to learn more about the case. I would highly recommend

On September 19, 1955 Emmett’s murder had became an outrage. Because blacks and women were not allowed to serve jury duty, Bryant and Milam were judged in front of an all white male jury. At the end of the case the two white men were found innocent. This really made a lot of chaos. To add to the madness, a couple months later they admitted the crime to Look magazine for four thousand dollars.

During the early nineteen hundreds many people especially in the south were often convicted of crimes for no other reason than their skin color and contrary to many ideas about our court system, we have not always been the most honest and unbiased people. One prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence in the case clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence helps to prove that Charles Weems and the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused and convicted.

Mrs. Wright is being accused of murdering her husband, and all the evidence points to her, but if you look

He received a degree from Cornell University and moved to Atlanta in 1908. While living in Atlanta, on August 25, 1913, he became victim to one of the most controversial court cases in US history. Leo Frank was accused of killing a 13-year-old girl named Mary Phagan. The case became so prominent, that is caught the attention of the Supreme Court and the Governor of Georgia. Neither of the courts came to a decision because a mob of men broke Frank out of jail and hung him from a Georgia oak tree. The case of Leo Frank depicts the rising social tensions in the early 1900’s in America, which included racial discrimination, social injustice and racial

Innocent until proven guilty is a phrase that applies to our judicial system in modern times; however, when the play Doubt by John Patrick Stanley was written this phrase did not always apply. The play is a parable that makes you think about how gossip and rumors can cause havoc and potentially ruin someone’s career. In the play the rumors that are flying are rumors about whether or not Father Flynn is innocent or guilty to the crime of molesting a young boy named Donald Muller. Critics still argue whether he was innocent or guilty to the crime today, and no answer is known. However, based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt: A Parable, one could conclude that Father Flynn is innocent due to the fact that he had reasonable evidence

April 6, 1931, the trials for the Scottsboro boys begin(Uschan 16). The boys were represented by Milo C. Moody and Stephen Roddy who were only given twelve days to prepare for the trials. Stephen was and unpaid, unprepared real estate attorney, and Milo was a forgetful seventy year old local attorney who hadn’t tried a case in a long time (“San Marcos” line 13). The trails were completely unorganized and false information was stated throughout the whole thing. The cross examination of Victoria Price lasted minutes and the defense offered very little information to the judge. Six out of the nine boys ended up denying the rape while 3 admitted to it. Even though the three men didn’t rape the women, because of beatings and threats, they admitted to the gang rape. By the time the trail had ended 8 out of the 9 boys were convicted and sentenced to death. Since one of the Scottsboro boys was only thirteen, he was considered too young to be tried as an adult (“UMKC” par. 6-7).

According to American history, prejudice is shown through the courtroom’s jury when making decisions to send the alleged African Americans to jail. On March 24, 1931, nine African American lives were jeopardized with the false accusations of rape that further scrutinizes the nation’s controversial look upon justice. Referring to Abigail Thernson and Henry Fetter when talking about The Scottsboro Trials it states, “Represented by unprepared out of date counsel who had no more than a half an hour consult

Mary Mallon was a woman of Irish descent who came to the United States as an immigrant to start a new life in 1886. She worked as a cook in a house where wealthy families came to celebrate their vacation. She was a healthy carrier of typhoid and made the guests sick and they died because of her. Although science had not been developed enough yet and she was tried unfairly it did not make her only a victim. Mary Mallon transformed from victim to villain. When she decided not to report to the police and return to cooking.

The Supreme court once handled a criminal trial? Today, the mere mention of lynching evokes negative reactions from people, but in the past not so much. If you were a person of color, you feared lynching because laws were either not enforced or did not exist to protect you from that disgusting method of death. I want to examine the history of the court case, United States v. Shipp (1906), to give one account of the American legal process eked a victory for African-Americans. The Supreme Court case is notable because the legal process brought few victories for Blacks in the late/early 20th century America. For example, the thought of a Black man causing harm to a white woman was fatally unforgivable and some were lynched by the public, regardless of their innocence. In the case of Ed Johnson of Tennessee, he met that same fate; his sixth amendment rights were violated in the process. He was a citizen of the United States, and guaranteed the same rights as anyone else living in the country.

This caused many rallies, riots, peaceful protest. This case informs us now because it also tells us how bad they were treated back then, the people believed the girls because they were white, and mostly overlooked the boys because they were black. So to end this long unfair trial, they were cleared.The latter mentioned in the book To kill a Mockingbird, by author Harper lee.

Mary Maloney is a pregnant wife of a police officer. Her husband came home one day and told her something sad. She ended up killing him. But for whatever reason got away with it. She came up with a smart alibi that proved she was innocent. And the police officers believed it. Mary was smart “she carried the meat into the kitchen, placed it in a pan, turned the oven on high, and shoved it inside. Then she washed her hands and ran upstairs to the bedroom. She sat down before the mirror, tidied her hair, touched up her lips and face. She tried a smile. It came out rather peculiar, she tried again. She rehearsed it several times more.”(Roald 14) Mary thought fast after she killed him because “as the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be.” (Roald 13) If it wasn’t for Mary’s alibi, none of this would have been believable.

the prisoners were lucky enough to escape the being lynched when they were moved into Scottsboro. In this trial, nine young, black boys were charged with the rape of two white girls while on a train. This case was a major source of controversy in the 1930’s. “Despite testimony by doctors who had examined the women that no rape had occurred, the all- white jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old were sentenced to death” (“Scottsboro”). The boys’ lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, did not even get assigned to the case until the first day of the trial. “If he could show a jury that these nine boys were innocent, as the record indicated, the jury would surely free them. To Leibowitz, that was simple!” (Chalmers 35). However, it was not that simple. Many white citizens would not change their minds about

Though authorities did come to a verdict, many were dissatisfied with the outcome, and many accused them of a cover up. The incidents were relatively famous at the time, but as the cycle of news continued, the public gradually forgot.