Prince Edward County Schools, Virginia, 1977, undated - 1 of 11

    10 Columbus Circle 
i; New York, N.Y. 10019 2 

JUdson 6-8397 

NAACP 

Legal Defense and Educational Fund 
PRESS RELEASE 

we. AEAKnight Chalmers FOR RELEASE 
Direct el Wednesday, 

February 24, 1965 Associate Counsel 
Constance Baker Motley 

ais DRIVE AGAINST CAPITAL 
at PUNISHMENT CONTINUING 

of " 

LEON COUNTY, FLA. ---NAAMEE egal vétenpe Fund Attorneys continued to 

press in their national campaign against capital punishment with an 

appeal for the life of William Ban amin Craig, death row prisoner 

here, this week for the’rape of a white woman. 

In an effort to an aaae death for life imprisonment, Legal 

Defense Fund attorneys entered a motion for a reduction of sentencc 

in Craig's behalf, before the Circuit Court in Leon County, Florida. 

The motion was denied. 

However, Legal Defense Fund attorney, Leroy Clark said, "We wil: 

carry this case to the Florida State Supreme Court and, if necessary, 

on to the U.S. Supreme Court to end this abuse of the Constitution 

id this senseless and cruel waste of human life." 

William Craig has been in death row for nearly two years, 

- During his trial and first appeal, he was represented by court 

appointed counsel. 

Already, the Legal Defense Fund is attempting to save, from the 

electric chair, two other Florida Negroes, Jerry Chatman and Robert 

Shuler. They, too, were tried and convicted of raping a white woma 

The attorney's motions for reduction of sentence from death t» 

life imprisonment for Craig, Chatman and Shuler are based on the 

same points of law---alleged "illegal imposition of a sentence." 

They base their argument on these points: 

* The death sentence is illegal and void in that it 

constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 

8th and 14th Constitutional Amendments. 

* The confusion of having a jury Sere both the guilt af the 

defendants and the punishment igndenial of due process of 

law. 
(more) 

Jesse DeVore, Jr., Direetor of Public Inf ion—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 >< 



’ Drive Agaihst Capital -2- Febtudry 24, 1965 

ee 

Punishment Continuing 

us 

* _ The fact that many more Negroes are executed for rape ‘than 

white, Particularly, when a Negro male is convicted of: 

raping a white female. a“ 

After a thorough study of the number of Negroes put to death 

for rape in Florida and the relationship between whites executed 

for the same crime, Legal Defense Fund Director-Counsel Jack 

Greenberg stated: $y 

"At every poineeey the judicial pe -teen the arresting 

officer to those who might commute the death sentence--Negroes are. 

more likely to receive hars ie redtinent? Competent counsel is offen 

unavailable, juries are often all white, At every juncture wheat 

Justice is secured, or tempered with mercy, the Negro sutenbeon 

at a disadvantage. There are hot grounds, indeed, for asserting 

that in some cases the death penalty for rape is a modern substitute. 

Ese lynch mob." 

Mr, Greenberg, along with Legal Defense Fund Attorneys Tobias 

Simo , Howard W, Dixon and Maurice Rosen, all of Miami, and Mr. 

ak 

and Shuler. 

New York City, are handling the appeals of Craig, Chatman ' 

-30- 

a JAMES WELDON JOHNSON 
ee AWARD TO DR. J. W. DAVES 

ee | YORK--~Dr. John W, Davis, director of a and 

a. for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund was ci here this week 

his accomplishments in the "integration of students and teacher.. 

. The New York branch of the Association for the Study of Negro 

ranch, at the Waldorf Astoria. Alex Quaison-Sackey, president 

United Nations General Assembly, spoke. 

=30- 
reste sa

ra