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The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South
On May 3, 1946, in St. Martinsville, Louisiana, a seventeen-year-old black boy was scheduled for execution by electric chair. Willie Francis had been charged with murder; his trial had been brief; his death sentence never in doubt. When the executioners flipped the switch, Willie screamed and writhed as electricity coursed through his body. But Willie Francis did not die. Having miraculously survived, Willie was informed that the state would attempt to execute him a second time within a week. The ensuing legal battle went all the way to the Supreme Court, Could the state electrocute someone twice? A gripping narrative about a brutal crime and its shocking aftermath, The Execution of Willie Francis offers a heroic—and ultimately tragic—tale of one man's quest for moral justice in a nation still blinded by race.
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2008
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About the author
Gilbert King
22 books255 followersGilbert Anthony King is an American writer and photographer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 2, 2024
I am 66 years old and just learning American history thanks to writers like Gilbert King, who I have put in my category of "Who We Really Are" American history along with:
USA: The 42nd Parallel / 1919 / The Big Money
by:
John Dos Passos
A People's History of the United States
by: Howard Zinn
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
by
Chalmers Johnson
Willie Francis was a 15-year-old black boy who was tried for murder in the fatal shooting of a local Cajun drug store owner (Andrew Thomas) in St. Martinville. La. in 1945. Thomas had employed Willie Francis to do odd jobs and sweep up the store. When Thomas was found murdered, a slipshod investigation came to an abrupt halt when investigators realized that Willie made a convenient patsy. Once Willie was found guilty and signed a confession, any further motive or investigative effort was off the board. Most of the book was then dedicated to the efforts of a wonderful Cajun lawyer, Bertrand DeBlanc, whose ceaseless and heartfelt efforts were met with chilly indifference by the predominantly Jim Crow appeals court which voted 5:4 to carry out Willie's death sentence. The tragedies of the trial only began with a 15-year-old being tried as an adult, and subsequently with all further new tips (which could have changed the outcome of the case) being buried.
More insights as to motives didn't become abundantly clear until the last couple of chapters, but I was already teary based on my imaginings. I was gritting my teeth. Such a regrettable black mark on our history. R.I.P. Willie Francis
USA: The 42nd Parallel / 1919 / The Big Money
by:
John Dos Passos
A People's History of the United States
by: Howard Zinn
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
by
Chalmers Johnson
Willie Francis was a 15-year-old black boy who was tried for murder in the fatal shooting of a local Cajun drug store owner (Andrew Thomas) in St. Martinville. La. in 1945. Thomas had employed Willie Francis to do odd jobs and sweep up the store. When Thomas was found murdered, a slipshod investigation came to an abrupt halt when investigators realized that Willie made a convenient patsy. Once Willie was found guilty and signed a confession, any further motive or investigative effort was off the board. Most of the book was then dedicated to the efforts of a wonderful Cajun lawyer, Bertrand DeBlanc, whose ceaseless and heartfelt efforts were met with chilly indifference by the predominantly Jim Crow appeals court which voted 5:4 to carry out Willie's death sentence. The tragedies of the trial only began with a 15-year-old being tried as an adult, and subsequently with all further new tips (which could have changed the outcome of the case) being buried.
More insights as to motives didn't become abundantly clear until the last couple of chapters, but I was already teary based on my imaginings. I was gritting my teeth. Such a regrettable black mark on our history. R.I.P. Willie Francis
May 4, 2014
It still amazes me the cruelty of human beings. Then, now, it does not matter. People can be so very evil. This book saddened and disgusted me to be reminded of just how people can have no soul! I have no more words!
August 13, 2019
Riveting account of a great injustice
Willie Francis was a sixteen-year-old black boy with a third grade education who was convicted of the murder of a white man in St. Martinsville, Louisiana in 1946. After being strapped into the electric chair--dubbed “Gruesome Gertie” by prisoners--a strange thing happened. Although cranked up to its full voltage, the switch thrown, and his body twitching horribly, Willie Francis did not die.
Many people believed that God had intervened to save Willie Francis’s life and that therefore he should not be electrocuted a second time. A local white attorney named Bertrand DeBlanc believed that to put Francis in the electric chair a second time would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and place him in double jeopardy. So, against the wishes of most of the Cajun parish in which he lived, and at some considerable danger to his life and career, DeBlanc took the case and tried to save Francis’s life.
Gilbert King makes it clear that it was highly unlikely that Willie Francis could have committed this crime, even if he had wanted to, and further that his appointed defense lawyers presented no defense at all to the charges. King shows how the “confession” was probably coerced from Willie Francis by Sheriff Gilbert Ozenne and his colleagues who had spent a considerable part of their lives terrifying and brutalizing black people and others who would stick up for them. As has been documented in innumerable books, people like Ozenne and his sidekick Gus “Killer” Walker believed that their job was to “keep the nigras down” by whatever means, and especially to deny them their civil rights, in particular the right to vote.
The larger horrific drama, of which the Willie Francis case is just one sorry example, played prominently throughout the South after the Civil War (and continues in more muted tones today), but was most obvious in places like St. Martinsville where people were mostly poor and uneducated. The savage brutality was first of all a way of effectively maintaining something close to slavery, and second a revenge upon the North for winning the war and attempting to deprive the South of its cheap source of labor. In another sense this sordid record of murder and something close to genocide or ethnic cleansing (before such terms were much used), stemmed from an attempt by beaten southern white males, in most particular the semi-educated and ignorant ones, to reestablish their deluded notion of manhood.
But this is also a chapter in the story of how gradually the South changed; how Afro-Americans with incredible patience and Sisyphean labors over many decades, while suffering enormous pain and loss of life, managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and achieve something close to equality with whites. It is a story of great courage and determination.
Gilbert King’s account is a vivid and compelling chapter in this uniquely American tale. The book is meticulously researched, amply documented with numerous endnotes, beautifully written, and powerfully engaged. In short, The Execution of Willie Francis is a outstanding work of journalism and a much welcome addition to an important literature. We have to face what we have done so that it might be a bit more difficult for others to do the same; and there, by increments, we might become more human.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
Willie Francis was a sixteen-year-old black boy with a third grade education who was convicted of the murder of a white man in St. Martinsville, Louisiana in 1946. After being strapped into the electric chair--dubbed “Gruesome Gertie” by prisoners--a strange thing happened. Although cranked up to its full voltage, the switch thrown, and his body twitching horribly, Willie Francis did not die.
Many people believed that God had intervened to save Willie Francis’s life and that therefore he should not be electrocuted a second time. A local white attorney named Bertrand DeBlanc believed that to put Francis in the electric chair a second time would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and place him in double jeopardy. So, against the wishes of most of the Cajun parish in which he lived, and at some considerable danger to his life and career, DeBlanc took the case and tried to save Francis’s life.
Gilbert King makes it clear that it was highly unlikely that Willie Francis could have committed this crime, even if he had wanted to, and further that his appointed defense lawyers presented no defense at all to the charges. King shows how the “confession” was probably coerced from Willie Francis by Sheriff Gilbert Ozenne and his colleagues who had spent a considerable part of their lives terrifying and brutalizing black people and others who would stick up for them. As has been documented in innumerable books, people like Ozenne and his sidekick Gus “Killer” Walker believed that their job was to “keep the nigras down” by whatever means, and especially to deny them their civil rights, in particular the right to vote.
The larger horrific drama, of which the Willie Francis case is just one sorry example, played prominently throughout the South after the Civil War (and continues in more muted tones today), but was most obvious in places like St. Martinsville where people were mostly poor and uneducated. The savage brutality was first of all a way of effectively maintaining something close to slavery, and second a revenge upon the North for winning the war and attempting to deprive the South of its cheap source of labor. In another sense this sordid record of murder and something close to genocide or ethnic cleansing (before such terms were much used), stemmed from an attempt by beaten southern white males, in most particular the semi-educated and ignorant ones, to reestablish their deluded notion of manhood.
But this is also a chapter in the story of how gradually the South changed; how Afro-Americans with incredible patience and Sisyphean labors over many decades, while suffering enormous pain and loss of life, managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and achieve something close to equality with whites. It is a story of great courage and determination.
Gilbert King’s account is a vivid and compelling chapter in this uniquely American tale. The book is meticulously researched, amply documented with numerous endnotes, beautifully written, and powerfully engaged. In short, The Execution of Willie Francis is a outstanding work of journalism and a much welcome addition to an important literature. We have to face what we have done so that it might be a bit more difficult for others to do the same; and there, by increments, we might become more human.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
May 8, 2010
Willie Francis is best remembered for getting out of the electric chair, shaken but alive, minutes after being strapped into it. The 17 year old black youth had been sentenced to death by electrocution in 1945 for murdering a white drugstore owner in his native St. Martinville, Louisiana, but faulty wiring and drunken executioners prevented the chair from completing its gruesome work. During the next several months, Francis sat in a grimy jail cell while Cajun lawyer Bertrand LeBlanc and a growing number of supporters fought to keep him from being sent to the chair a second time. The battle was lost on May 9, 1947, when Francis, now 18, was finally executed.
Gilbert King's The Execution of Willie Francis is a compelling story about racism and justice in the American South of the 1940s. Black defendants rarely prevailed at their trials during that period, especially when their alleged victims were white, and Francis was no exception. His confession was probably coerced, and his court-appointed attorneys presented no defense. It was only after he survived his first date with the electric chair and Bertrand LeBlanc took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court that Willie Francis became a nationwide cause celebre, with power attorneys and movie stars fighting to give him a new lease on life.
Francis attracted sympathy not because he was innocent of murder, but because he had survived the killing device that had claimed over twenty men and one woman since Louisiana's method of capital punishment switched from hanging to electrocution. He never denied that he killed pharmacist Andrew Thomas; all he would say was "It was a secret between me and him."
When researching his book, Gilbert King went to St, Martinville and in effect traveled back in time. He spoke to residents who remembered the Francis case and confided the stories that they had heard about Thomas' murder; it was alleged that the middle-aged victim had been sexually abusing Willie Francis and killed in retaliation.
The Execution of Willie Francis is a real page-turner and a masterfully written piece of historic detective work. I have heard that a feature film about the case is in the works: hopefully it will be just as unforgettable.
Gilbert King's The Execution of Willie Francis is a compelling story about racism and justice in the American South of the 1940s. Black defendants rarely prevailed at their trials during that period, especially when their alleged victims were white, and Francis was no exception. His confession was probably coerced, and his court-appointed attorneys presented no defense. It was only after he survived his first date with the electric chair and Bertrand LeBlanc took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court that Willie Francis became a nationwide cause celebre, with power attorneys and movie stars fighting to give him a new lease on life.
Francis attracted sympathy not because he was innocent of murder, but because he had survived the killing device that had claimed over twenty men and one woman since Louisiana's method of capital punishment switched from hanging to electrocution. He never denied that he killed pharmacist Andrew Thomas; all he would say was "It was a secret between me and him."
When researching his book, Gilbert King went to St, Martinville and in effect traveled back in time. He spoke to residents who remembered the Francis case and confided the stories that they had heard about Thomas' murder; it was alleged that the middle-aged victim had been sexually abusing Willie Francis and killed in retaliation.
The Execution of Willie Francis is a real page-turner and a masterfully written piece of historic detective work. I have heard that a feature film about the case is in the works: hopefully it will be just as unforgettable.
August 23, 2018
After reading King's "Devil in the Grove" and "Beneath a Ruthless Sun," I looked back to see if he'd written any other books and found this one. It is just as well-written, gripping, important, and engaging. Willie's story is one that needs to be heard, as well as the role of so many people in it and the work that they went on to do because of how Willie's case impacted their lives.
July 26, 2022
I really, really love King’s writing & other books so I held this one up to a high standard. This book is a lot more speculative than his others, and he includes many asides. I understand that this case isn’t as concrete as his others — and, this case ends in Willie being executed which is unlike the other cases King covers. That being said I don’t think his asides or guesses contribute much to the story he’s telling and the history he’s recounting.
I also didn’t appreciate his lens on the Civil Rights struggle in general. Unlike in his other books, there’s undertones of white savoirism, even though he himself mentions that DeBlanc didn’t see this case as a “race case.” I wouldn’t liked to see more credit given to the Black lawyers involved, although he tries to give them their flowers at the very end.
I also didn’t appreciate his lens on the Civil Rights struggle in general. Unlike in his other books, there’s undertones of white savoirism, even though he himself mentions that DeBlanc didn’t see this case as a “race case.” I wouldn’t liked to see more credit given to the Black lawyers involved, although he tries to give them their flowers at the very end.
December 16, 2021
I previously read King's Devil in the Grove and Beneath a Ruthless Sun, which I consider to be must-reads. King is a master at storytelling and this book does not disappoint.
Unfortunately, this book was unavailable as an e-book. As a result, this was the first physical book I've read in years. Audible was, of course, unavailable as well so I had to read the book out loud to myself which really became annoying to my wife 8-) OK, perhaps that last part is an embellishment
Unfortunately, this book was unavailable as an e-book. As a result, this was the first physical book I've read in years. Audible was, of course, unavailable as well so I had to read the book out loud to myself which really became annoying to my wife 8-) OK, perhaps that last part is an embellishment
January 26, 2020
This is a story injustice. The book leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions and a general sense of sadness. The story was one I had never heard about, which in and of itself is sad. The botched execution of a child should have left a greater mark on our thinking about law and justice.
September 1, 2018
After learning that this is the true version of "The Mercy Seat" I was really excited, but still wary after having previously read King's "Devil in the Grove." The problem with King's books for me is that he provides so much unnecessary detail about minor characters that I feel compelled to skip sections that don't add to the overall story. King is clearly a talented writer, researcher, and historian, but the digressions are infuriating.
September 7, 2013
Utterly spent. No words right now. Incredible challenge. Highly, highly recommend!!!!
December 10, 2018
The U.S.A - the Peculiar Institution of slavery in the Old South, the Cotton-Belt/Bible-Belt. Post Civil War the social norms in those states became even more aberrant. In 'Slavery by another Name' the justifiable claim was made that slavery in the old southern states, through the extensive use of prison labor, extended all the way through to the end of the Second World War. That is the time period of Willie's harrowing story of blind hatred and injustice.
Gilbert King is one hell of a writer. Now, I would also like to read his 'Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America' (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize.
more later...
The Execution of Willie Francis – Gilbert King - 12/10/2018
Louisiana remains a corrupt, extremely racist state. Recall Katrina and the cold-blooded murder of black men, who were only seeking to escape the flood. Murder by police and the ensuing cover-up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danzige...
None of those cops got the electric chair; instead reduced sentences of 3 years to 12 years for cold-blooded murder. But, by all means, get pissed when a black man takes a pre-game knee in the NFL. Katrina happened during the Bush years; a DOJ under Bush. What could possibly go wrong?
Gilbert King manages to pack a lot of American history into his book. It all makes for an interesting read. Depressing but interesting. The depressing part is that racism remains as strong a political force as ever. The recent wave of voter suppression and election fraud sponsored by the GOP has only made it worse. Again, and again, state institutionalized racism has resulted in murder.
Bertrand DeBlanc is introduced as one of the good-guys in American history; a hero for humanity. Meanwhile Old South dead-enders continue to fight the Civil War.
The current GOP, the Grandsons of Perdition. White men, old and young, mean and nasty; who in cold collusion; give African Americans no justice; deny the African American participation in government; offer him no dignity, offer him only humiliation and degradation. Worse today, in that it is aided and abetted by cunning and malicious political hacks with a smirk, a nod, a wink to age-old calumnies. Made even worse by a bright shining lying media. News media galling with their pretentious propaganda of evenhanded reporting. Mister Media says, “Next up, the evils of succoring the poor; our interview with Mephistopheles.” Both sides must be heard. The only difference between the Louisiana that Willie knew, and the Louisiana of today is death by lethal injection.
Thurgood Marshall makes an appearance (of note: ‘Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America’ by Gilbert King. I’ve added the book to my Amazon list. Not that I buy from Amazon; it’s just a convenient way to keep a list. (Also, another book, ‘The Air-Conditioned Nightmare’ by the famous Henry Miller))
From a letter to then governor, Jimmie Davis. “Do you really mean to let the world know that Governor Jimmie Davis is nothing but a sadistic moron?” Actually, yes. Hating on the black man was is politically expedient today as it was back then.
There is so much hidden history brought to light in this book. Every page a revelation. Such horrors as the first execution by electric chair. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave and Sadistic. A long, tortured look at Supreme Court proceedings ensues. And here we are, 71 years later, blessed with yet another 5/4 majority of assaholic monsters on the Supreme Court. An old truth is revealed. The justices already know the conclusion they want to reach. All that remains is to arrange the facts to support the conclusion.
Read this book – keep your anger fresh – it will need to be; for the years ahead portend no relief.
Gilbert King is one hell of a writer. Now, I would also like to read his 'Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America' (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize.
more later...
The Execution of Willie Francis – Gilbert King - 12/10/2018
Louisiana remains a corrupt, extremely racist state. Recall Katrina and the cold-blooded murder of black men, who were only seeking to escape the flood. Murder by police and the ensuing cover-up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danzige...
None of those cops got the electric chair; instead reduced sentences of 3 years to 12 years for cold-blooded murder. But, by all means, get pissed when a black man takes a pre-game knee in the NFL. Katrina happened during the Bush years; a DOJ under Bush. What could possibly go wrong?
Gilbert King manages to pack a lot of American history into his book. It all makes for an interesting read. Depressing but interesting. The depressing part is that racism remains as strong a political force as ever. The recent wave of voter suppression and election fraud sponsored by the GOP has only made it worse. Again, and again, state institutionalized racism has resulted in murder.
Bertrand DeBlanc is introduced as one of the good-guys in American history; a hero for humanity. Meanwhile Old South dead-enders continue to fight the Civil War.
The current GOP, the Grandsons of Perdition. White men, old and young, mean and nasty; who in cold collusion; give African Americans no justice; deny the African American participation in government; offer him no dignity, offer him only humiliation and degradation. Worse today, in that it is aided and abetted by cunning and malicious political hacks with a smirk, a nod, a wink to age-old calumnies. Made even worse by a bright shining lying media. News media galling with their pretentious propaganda of evenhanded reporting. Mister Media says, “Next up, the evils of succoring the poor; our interview with Mephistopheles.” Both sides must be heard. The only difference between the Louisiana that Willie knew, and the Louisiana of today is death by lethal injection.
Thurgood Marshall makes an appearance (of note: ‘Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America’ by Gilbert King. I’ve added the book to my Amazon list. Not that I buy from Amazon; it’s just a convenient way to keep a list. (Also, another book, ‘The Air-Conditioned Nightmare’ by the famous Henry Miller))
From a letter to then governor, Jimmie Davis. “Do you really mean to let the world know that Governor Jimmie Davis is nothing but a sadistic moron?” Actually, yes. Hating on the black man was is politically expedient today as it was back then.
There is so much hidden history brought to light in this book. Every page a revelation. Such horrors as the first execution by electric chair. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave and Sadistic. A long, tortured look at Supreme Court proceedings ensues. And here we are, 71 years later, blessed with yet another 5/4 majority of assaholic monsters on the Supreme Court. An old truth is revealed. The justices already know the conclusion they want to reach. All that remains is to arrange the facts to support the conclusion.
Read this book – keep your anger fresh – it will need to be; for the years ahead portend no relief.
July 6, 2020
This true story of a young man who was sentenced to the electric chair and the first time failed. Despite efforts to save him from a second electrocution, he was executed. Many factors about the nature of the murder were not resolved.
September 17, 2018
A great book about the racism, corruption, inequities, and injustices in Louisiana in the 1946 and the failure of our judicial system to protect those that most need protection.
July 19, 2020
Everyone should read this book.
August 20, 2020
Excellent book, should be read either before, or after, "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest Gaines.
March 17, 2022
Good insight into Jim Crow south, death penalty, and attempts at legal justice that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Some good heroes in this historical story.
December 22, 2023
Rest in peace Willie.
August 31, 2012
In the 1940's Louisiana dispatched a portable electric chair to Parish jails in order to administer the death penalty. This is the story of a teenager who was electrocuted but the executioners, one a prisoner from Angola prison had gotten drunk the night before and gruesome Gertie malfunctioned so that the jolt of electricity was not enough to kill him. Willie Francis was rescheduled for execution a week later but a young Cajun lawyer who would team up with Skelly Wright who later become a celebrated jurist to try to save his life and prevent his execution for a second time. The cast of characters was large and fascinating: the racist deputy sheriff whose gun was stolen from his car and would be the emurder weapon which would be used to shoot five bullets into the owner of a pharmacy in St Martinsville. And the murdered pharmacist bachelor who was reputed to be a ladies man with more than one husband with a motive to take vengeance. Or was the decedent gay who had made unwanted advance on Willie. The Cajun lawyer Bertrand DeBlanc spent a year consumed by the case convinced that the courts would see that it was cruel and unusual and double jeopardy for anyone having to sit on gruesome gertie's lap a second time . Justice Frankfuter cast the decisive vote denying the appeal on the basis that it was a question of judicial restraint. He then turned around to lobby the governor of Louisiana for a pardon-- Jimmy Davis who wrote the song: You Are my Sunshine. The singing governor was out on tour and instructed the Lt. Gov to deny the requested pardon.
Death penalty cases in small southern towns offer a window to the very soul of the place as I would learn 50 years later when I represented a death row inmate in Danville Va. This is a very good book. There would have been a completely different outcome if this case had occurred today. This was not the first time that St Martinsville experienced a botched execution. The first time was when a very tall black man was hanged but when the trap door was released, his feet touched the ground, leaving his neck intact. Not easily deterred the executioner put a board under the feet of the too tall black man and commenced digging a trench two feet down and then removed the board and he was no longer too tall,
Those Cajuns get their man. Read this book.
Death penalty cases in small southern towns offer a window to the very soul of the place as I would learn 50 years later when I represented a death row inmate in Danville Va. This is a very good book. There would have been a completely different outcome if this case had occurred today. This was not the first time that St Martinsville experienced a botched execution. The first time was when a very tall black man was hanged but when the trap door was released, his feet touched the ground, leaving his neck intact. Not easily deterred the executioner put a board under the feet of the too tall black man and commenced digging a trench two feet down and then removed the board and he was no longer too tall,
Those Cajuns get their man. Read this book.
May 9, 2013
I was anit-death penalty until the Ogden Hi-Fi Murders, then I was pro death penalty. Then I was still pro death penalty except I thought it was handed out horrendously unfairly and should be abolished until a fair method was discovered. I also thought it should be handed out very, very seldomly. This book about a young man convicted of murder who survives the electric chair and then -- horrors -- should he have to submit to that punishment again? Makes you stop and think about cruel and unusual punishments. The book keeps his guilt ambiguous as the emphasis is on the penalty and whether or not it should be inflicted twice. Thurgood Marshall is a minor character as this particular case did not meet the standard that the NAACP had put in place to merit its involvement. Thought-provoking and extremely moving.
April 30, 2014
This was a deeply moving, sobering book. It was the basis for Ernest Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying. My sisterfriend's was born in New Iberia and her family was from there. She would have loved to talked to her mother or aunt about this but they are all gone. There was a lot of history in the St. Martinsville-New Iberia area about the chism between Cajuns and Blacks, but it was a Cajun lawyer that came to Willie Francis' defense when the State of Louisiana botched his execution and then wanted to do it again. King's impeccable research put the spotlight on this area of the south that practiced Jim Crow and the villifying of African Americans no different than Mississippi or Alabama. Layer by layer, the author peels off the layers to get to the truth. It was not a simple textbook murder but so much more.
December 28, 2023
I learned that Edison and Westinghouse battled about which was more humane, direct or alternating current. Edison executed animals in his yard in Orange, New Jersey in an effort to discredit Westinghouse, and prove his electrical method was better for execution. Yeck. I also learned that lethal injection of morphine was rejected to replace hanging, because the executed would "enjoy" going to their death.
I have long been against the death penalty; Willie was likely innocent when sent to death row, and his botched execution.
Gilbert included facts such as: A 2005 study "cited nearly 200 instances in the United States between 1989 and 1991" when a convicted murderer was later proved innocent. Hence, my objection to the death penalty.
I have long been against the death penalty; Willie was likely innocent when sent to death row, and his botched execution.
Gilbert included facts such as: A 2005 study "cited nearly 200 instances in the United States between 1989 and 1991" when a convicted murderer was later proved innocent. Hence, my objection to the death penalty.
August 16, 2016
An excellent, compelling, and well written account of Willie Francis' two trips to the electric chair in Louisiana. What a sad story of racial injustice and double jeopardy in the justice system! Gilbert King takes what could be an dry historical-legal account and turns it into a whirlwind narrative, showing the struggles of the white lawyer who worked hard pro-bono to prevent the second execution. This is a fascinating book and a highly recommended read on Willie Francis, a little known but important figure in the history of the 1940s. I look forward to reading King's newer book, "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America".
November 30, 2014
This is the second book I read by Gilbert King. He does a great job covering racial issues in the 1940s. This is an amazing story. Young Willie Francis goes to the "portable" electric chair in Louisana and survives!! King outlines the attempts to stop a second execution by Louisana. Case goes to the Supreme Court. King examines in depth the arguements to save his live at the Supreme Court. Will judical restraint or judical activism rule the day and how do some of the most famous Justices come down on this issue? Terrific reading and King writes this in a novel style.
April 14, 2010
A strange and haunting event; double jeopardy in a capital case gets a well-deserved but poorly-executed (believe me, no pun intended) treatment. The barbarity of the death penalty is an inevitable theme, and one that deserves more seriousness than King's histrionic portent-casting. The atmospherics of the account are all off; they get in the way of the important story at hand in the name of shock value. Worth a read, if you can ignore the narration.
November 29, 2015
I had never heard of this story and it is a deeply fascinating read. It is a somber reminder of how far this country has come in terms of race relations but a stark reminder of where we are coming from and how the vestiges of our past will continue to influence race relations today. I highly recommend this book to anyone; Gilbert King is a phenomenal writer!
January 5, 2014
Haunting. This book, like others by this talented author, educated me in ways difficult to describe. It is the kind of book that I cannot get off my mind, and one I hope I never do. It is challenging, and inspiring and should be required reading in U.S. high schools.
April 14, 2014
I'm reading the Gilbert King catalog in reverse, and this gem only whets my appetite for more. Race, justice, and law -- in King's skillful hands as a storyteller -- combine in an unforgettable tale.
Read
April 29, 2010kdmalm
April 23, 2013
Sad moving tale of a young boy who went to the electric chair twice. It was a interesting book that kept my attention throughout the book. A book I think anyone who likes history will enjoy
November 9, 2015
I enjoyed this book throughly it is well written and we researched a must read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews