Virginia governor posthumously pardons seven Black men executed for 1951 rape of white woman

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has posthumously pardoned seven Black men who were executed for the 1951 rape of a white woman. 

“This is about righting wrongs,” Northam said in a news release Tuesday, announcing his pardons of the so-called Martinsville Seven.

“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,” he added. “While we can’t change the past, I hope today’s action brings them some small measure of peace.”

The Martinsville Seven were convicted by an all-white jury. It was later determined that the young Black men were tried without due process and that their death sentences were racially biased. 

From 1908 to 1951, 45 prisoners who were executed for alleged rape in Virginia were Black, with the Supreme Court outlawing the death penalty for rape in 1977, citing it as a “cruel and unusual punishment,” according to Northam’s news release.  

It added that some of the Martinsville Seven were unable to read the confessions that they signed and had no attorneys present during their interrogation.

During his term as governor, Northam has granted more than 604 pardons, which is more than Virginia’s previous nine governors combined.

In a brief interview Tuesday, the governor said the pardons were “part of Virginia being a state that rights wrongs,” according to The Washington Post. “We have 402 years of history and a lot of wrongs that we need to right,” he added.