Supreme Court to Hear Maxwell Case Impacting 435 Death Row Inmates Nationwide (Telegram)
Press Release
March 3, 1969

Cite this item
-
Press Releases, Volume 6. Supreme Court to Hear Maxwell Case Impacting 435 Death Row Inmates Nationwide (Telegram), 1969. b003bb58-b992-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/33d3db66-1190-4fbf-b873-ff19772a4089/supreme-court-to-hear-maxwell-case-impacting-435-death-row-inmates-nationwide-telegram. Accessed May 12, 2025.
Copied!
va Y See es AULD GRAM re eee [[ho-wos-ct or sve.[ poor cau [cas no. CHARGE TO THE ACCOUNT OF T NAACP Legal Defense & Ed.Fund 10 Columbus Cirle, N.¥.Cc.10019 Send the following message, subject t0 the terms on back hereof, which are hereby agrecd to March 3, 1969 The future of 435 death row inmates across the country will hang in q the balance Tuesday, March 4, when LDF attorneys argue before the U.S. Supreme Court the case of William Maxwell, an Arkansas Negro convicted of raping a white woman. Life expectations of those facing death have been strengthened by the record set in America during 1968--the first year in our history during which no executions took place. This. was accomplished by LDF (we represent more than half the nation's condemned) and other attorneys at a time when public sentiment is increasingly calling for repressive measures against crime. Anthony Amsterdam, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania will argue the Maxwell matter for LDF. He will seek answers to two central uestions: 1) should juries be permitted to impose death sentences without standards to guide their decisions, and 2) whether it is unconstitutional for a single jury to decide guilt and punishment simultaneously, thus confronting defendants with the threat that they might help prove their own guilt if they took the stand to offer evidence intended to mitigate punishment. Jesse DeVore, Dir. of Public Information Mr. Oswald Johnston National News Desk 2515° "2" Sta, Now. Washington, D.C. National Press Bldg. Washington, D.C. ' 1 { BALTIMORE SUN i WASHINGTON POST é t r 1 1 ' Miss Charlotte Moulton UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Supreme Court Bldg. Mr. Monroe Karmin THE WALL ST. JOURNAL 245 National Press Bldg. ‘ t i H Hi Washington, D.c. 20004 . Washington, D.C. 1 t : H Mr. Lyle Deniston WASHINGTON STAR Mr. Fred NEW YORK 20 "BE"