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Jackson Advocate
Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi
What is this article about?
NAACP executive secretary Walter White urges branches nationwide to wire Mississippi Governor Fielding L. Wright for clemency for Willie McGee, scheduled for execution on March 20 for a 1945 rape conviction in Laurel, Miss. The case involves constitutional issues and doubts about guilt; prior appeals reversed convictions twice, but U.S. Supreme Court declined review.
Merged-components note: Merged continuation across pages for the domestic news story about NAACP branches urging clemency for Willie McGee; relabeled from story to domestic_news.
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NEW YORK, March 8 Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People throughout the country have been asked by Walter White, executive secretary, to wire Governor Fielding L. Wright of Mississippi urging clemency for Willie McGee who is scheduled for execution on March 20 on conviction of raping a white woman in Laurel, Miss., in 1945.
The case has been handled from the beginning by the Civil Rights Congress. However, the NAACP has been interested in its constitutional aspects and moreover believes that there are reasonable doubts as to his guilt. McGee's conviction was twice reversed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court, however, refused to review the case.
On July 26, 1950, the NAACP joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in a wire to Governor Wright asking for a stay of execution on the basis of "alleged subornation of perjury charges." In releasing the wire the two organizations made it clear that "they were acting independently of and had no affiliation with the Civil Rights Congress which provided the legal defense in the McGee case."
The NAACP committee on administration voted at its regular monthly meeting to ask the branches to take independent action on behalf of the convicted man.
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What entities or persons were involved?
Where did it happen?
Domestic News Details
Primary Location
New York
Event Date
March 8
Key Persons
Outcome
willie mcgee scheduled for execution on march 20; conviction twice reversed by mississippi supreme court; u.s. supreme court refused review; naacp and aclu previously requested stay on perjury charges basis.
Event Details
NAACP branches urged by executive secretary Walter White to wire Mississippi governor for clemency for Willie McGee, convicted of 1945 rape in Laurel, Miss.; NAACP interested due to constitutional aspects and doubts on guilt; case handled by Civil Rights Congress but NAACP acting independently; administration committee voted to request branch action.