94 Years Later, Tom Joyner Gets Justice

8:52 pm EST October 14th, 2009 | News | 4 Comments

Too late, but still good.

Two great-uncles of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran, were unanimously pardoned Wednesday by South Carolina.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Black landowners Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed 94 years ago after a jury convicted them of killing 73-year-old John Lewis, a wealthy white veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia. Two other black men were also put to death for the crime.

‘This won’t bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace,’ Joyner said. ‘This is a good day.’”

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4 Responses to “94 Years Later, Tom Joyner Gets Justice”

  1. cj says:
    October 14, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    It’s good that their family can have some peace now.

  2. Jaim says:
    October 15, 2009 at 12:00 am

    What an intense story. Glad to see a little good came out of all the bad.

  3. Frank DiSalle says:
    October 15, 2009 at 12:45 am

    An amazing confluence of technology, and social progress. The Wheel of Karma rolls slowly, but inexorably.

  4. Matt Osborne says:
    October 15, 2009 at 1:55 am

    I’m waiting for the wingnuts to leave their usual stupid.