Contempt of court
the turn-of-the-century lynching that launched 100 years of federalism
by Mark Curriden
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"When Ed Johnson, a black man, was wrongly convicted of rape in 1906 and sentenced to death in Tennessee, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan issued a stay of execution, declaring that Johnson's right to a fair trial had been violated, and that he had been railroaded through the criminal justice system. The interference of the Supreme Court was not well received back in Chattanooga.
A violent mob answered this federal "interference" by dragging Johnson from his jail cell, beating him, and hanging him from a bridge. Local police did nothing to prevent the lynching, nor were any members of the mob arrested. For the first and only time in history, an enraged Supreme Court conducted a criminal trial to enforce its authority. It brought contempt of court charges against the sheriff, his deputies, and members of the lynch mob."--BOOK JACKET.
"The first book written about these highly charged events, Contempt of Court raises issues of federalism versus states' rights that are as timely today as they were almost a century ago. Johnson's case led to a precedent-setting criminal trial that is unique in the annals of American jurisprudence. This riveting tale will prove essential reading for all interested in how American justice works."--BOOK JACKET.
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United States, Chattanooga, TennesseeShowing 2 featured editions. View all 2 editions?
| Edition | Availability |
|---|---|
1
Contempt of court: the turn-of-the-century lynching that launched 100 years of federalism
2001, Anchor Books
in English
- 1st Anchor Books ed.
0385720823 9780385720823
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2
Contempt of court: the turn-of-the-century lynching that launched 100 years of federalism
1999, Faber and Faber
in English
- 1st ed.
0571199526 9780571199525
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Book Details
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. [377]-383) and index.
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Work Description
"In the tradition of Gideon's Trumpet, here is the story of Ed Johnson, an illiterate laborer, who in 1906 was arrested for the brutal rape of a young white woman in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although he could easily prove his innocence, within seventeen days of the crime Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to death in a trial that Oliver Wendell Holmes called "a shameful attempt at justice." When two black lawyers, who weren't even part of the original defense, appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court for a stay of execution, the stay was granted - only to provoke a bloodthirsty mob of frenzied locals to steal justice in a scene of breathtaking horror. What ensued then was dizzying sequence of legal action that changed forever the way law is practiced in the United States.".
"In this book, Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr., bring to light a Supreme Court decision the overwhelming significance of which Thurgood Marshall asserted had "never been fully explained." Impeccably written and exhaustively researched, Contempt of Court documents brutal and pivotal historical events that only a century later are we coming to understand."--BOOK JACKET.
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| July 17, 2024 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
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