Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-century Lynching that Launched 100 Years of Federalism

Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-century Lynching that Launched 100 Years of Federalism
ISBN-10
0385720823
ISBN-13
9780385720823
Category
Political Science / Corruption & Misconduct
Pages
394
Language
English
Published
2001
Publisher
Anchor Books
Authors
Mark Curriden, Leroy Phillips

Description

In this profound & fascinating book, the authors revisit an overlooked Supreme Court decision that changed forever how justice is carried out in the United States. In 1906, Ed Johnson was the innocent black man found guilty of the brutal rape of Nevada Taylor, a white woman, & sentenced to die in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Two black lawyers, not even part of the original defense, appealed to the Supreme Court for a stay of execution, & the stay, incredibly, was granted. Frenzied with rage at the decision, locals responded by lynching Johnson, & what ensued was a breathtaking whirlwind of groundbreaking legal action whose import, Thurgood Marshall would claim, "has never been fully explained." Provocative, thorough, & gripping, Contempt of Court is a long-overdue look at events that clearly depict the peculiar & tenuous relationship between justice & the law. "Curriden & Phillips have woven detail with a tragic story line to create an important book that is also a compelling read." --Chattanooga Free Press. "Brings into focus [a] grim, critical moment in American history." --The New York Times Book Review.

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