Martinsville Seven Granted Posthumous Pardons By VA Governor

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted posthumous pardons on Tuesday to a group of Black men, known as the Martinsville Seven, who were executed by the state in 1951 for an alleged rape of a white woman.

Northam announced the pardons in a Richmond meeting with descendants of the Martinsville Seven. The pardons serve as recognition from the state that the young men were tried without adequate due process and received a racially biased death sentence not similarly applied to white defendants, the governor said.

“This is about righting wrongs,” Northam said. “We all deserve a criminal justice system that is fair, equal, and gets it right — no matter who you are or what you look like. I’m grateful to the advocates and families of the Martinsville Seven for their dedication and perseverance. While we can’t change the past, I hope today’s action brings them some small measure of peace.”

Frank Hairston Jr., 18, Booker T. Millner, 19, Francis DeSales Grayson, 37, Howard Lee Hairston, 18, James Luther Hairston, 20, Joe Henry Hampton, 19, and John Claybon Taylor, 21, of Martinsville were executed in 1951 on charges of raping a white woman.

Martinsville, located in southern Virginia about 10 miles from the North Carolina border, is the county seat of Henry County.

Studies have shown that a defendant is more than three times as likely to be sentenced to death if the victim of a crime is white than if the victim is Black. From 1908 to 1951, all 45 prisoners executed for rape in Virginia were Black men. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that imposing the death penalty for rape was cruel and unusual punishment.

In March, Northam signed into law a bill abolishing the death penalty, a dramatic shift in policy for a state that has executed more people in its history than any other state. Starting from the Colonial period, Virginia has executed 1,390 people, more than any other state. Texas ranks second with 1,322 executions followed by 1,130 executions in New York.

In late 2020, relatives and descendants of the executed men petitioned Northam to issue a posthumous pardon. The families did not argue that the men were innocent but rather that they did not receive impartial justice.

“The Martinsville Seven were not given adequate due process,” the petition said. “They were sentenced to death for a crime that a white person would not have been executed for ... and they were killed, by the Commonwealth, ‘simply for being black.’”

All members of the Martinsville Seven were convicted and sentenced to death within eight days, and each defendant was tried by juries made up entirely of white men. Some of the men were impaired at the time of arrest or unable to read the confessions they signed, and none had attorneys present during their interrogation.

“Pardons should not have to be a part of the process to ensure a fair and equitable justice system, but unfortunately that’s been case for far too long and I’m happy we have a governor that believes in using his clemency powers to right the wrongs and provide second chances,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson said in a statement Tuesday.

Northam has granted 604 pardons and acted on more than 2,000 pardon petitions. A large number of pending petitions is a result of an influx received by the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth under the Northam administration, coupled with the thousands of petitions that were already pending review when former Gov. Terry McAuliffe took office in 2014.

In May, Northam announced new steps to streamline the pardon process, including increased staff, a redesigned pardons website, and a new petition portal that allows electronic tracking submission and tracking of pardon requests.

RELATED: Northam Signs Historic Bill Abolishing Death Penalty In Virginia