June 16, 1944 was execution day at the Central Correctional Institution in Columbia, and next on the docket to confront the electrical chair was George Stinney, a 14-year-old African American boy from Acolu, South Carolina. George weighed merely 95 pounds and stood at only 5” 1′ at the time he was strapped to an electric chair too big for his physique.1 Due to George’s small physique, extra holes needed to be punched into the chair’s leather bindings before the bindings could fit onto George’s limbs. This extra step bought George a couple extra minutes of life before he faced the electric chair.2 What was 14-year-old George Stinney thinking about right before execution? Surely not that he would soon become the youngest person executed in the 20th century.3
On March 24, 1944, tragedy and injustice came strolling into the small segregated lumber mill town of Alcolu, South Carolina. Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7, were walking with their bike when they came across Aime Stinney Ruffner and George Stinney. The girls asked Aime and George whether or not they knew where they could find Maypops. Aime and George responded with a “no” and the girls went on their way. The night of March 24, Betty and Mary were reported missing after both girls failed to return home. The morning after, Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames were found dead in a ditch with their bikes laying on top of them. Police arrived at the Stinney household and arrested George, a 14-year-old African American boy, for the murders on Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames.4 Unfortunately, at the time police arrested George, the 1966 Supreme Court ruling on Miranda v. Arizona, which requires law enforcement officials to advise suspects of their rights, had not been ruled yet.5 After the police arrested and interrogated George without any access to his parents nor to an attorney, George confessed to the murders of Betty Binnicker and Mary Thame.6 George Stinney was not the only party impacted as a result of the murders, the Stinney family was persecuted by the rest of the town due the accusation against George. George Stinney Sr. was fired from work and the entire family was forced to permanently leave Acolu and move to Pinewood where the grandmother resided. Aime Stinney Ruffner stated, “We had no choice, the crowd came and they said they were going to get us.”7
The judge presiding over the case appointed Charles Plowden, 31-year-old local lawyer and aspiring politician, to represent George Stinney during the trial. On April 24, 1944, residents of Alcolu packed the local courthouse hoping justice would be served swiftly. A jury composed of 12 white men would be destined to determine George Stinney’s fate.8 Plowden failed to motion for a change of venue, which is a motion to change the location of a trial to overcome local prejudice. Stinney could have had a less partial jury in a different location. The prosecution’s case relied on the testimony of two police officers giving an account of Stinney’s confession he made during his interrogation. According to the police, Stinney confessed to having followed Betty Binnicker and Mary Thames after initially making contact with the girls, then unsuccessfully attempted to rape Betty, and then proceeded to beat both Betty and Mary with a railroad spike that had been laying around. The prosecution presented Stinney’s birth certificate as the last piece of evidence. The prosecution presented the birth certificate to make the case that Stinney was born on October 21, 1921, making him 14 years of age, which was traditionally the accepted age of criminal responsibility at the time.9 Plowden failed to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, call forth any witness that could have corroborated with Stinney’s alibi, question the circumstances under which the police obtained the confession, nor to point out the lack of physical evidence, nor to point out the impracticality of a 14-year-old boy weighing 95 pounds and standing at 5 feet and 1 inch of physically being able to murder two girls, and finally failed to file an appeal. Plowden’s only defense comprised of the defendant being too young to be held responsible for the crimes he committed. Stinney’s trial, that would determine whether he lived or died, lasted a total of 3 hours. The judge sentenced the jury to deliberation, and 10 minutes later the jury comprised of 12 white men, found 14 year old George Stinney guilty of the murders of Betty June Binnicker and Mary Emma Thames. The judge sentenced George Stinney to death by electrocution. On June 16, 1944, the 2,400 volts of electricity passing through George Stinney rendered his body lifeless.10
70 years after the execution of George Stinney, Stinney’s three remaining siblings are seeking justice of their own with the help of a group of lawyers and civil rights advocates determined to exonerate Stinney. Stinney’s prosecution combined unconstitutional errors with serious misconduct. The team of attorneys argued in the Sumter County Courthouse that Stinney’s verdict was solely based on a coerced confession, therefore, the verdict should be thrown out.11 Due to new testimony, Stinney’s family, along with the team of attorneys, are hoping Judge Carmen T. Mullen, of the Fourteenth Circuit Court in South Carolina, rules in their favor. Despite most of the evidence, including Stinney’s confession and the transcript of the trial disappeared, Mullen heard new testimony from Stinney’s brothers and sisters, a witness from the search party, a child forensic psychiatrist, and a statement from Wilford Hunter, Stinney’s former cellmate.12 Frankie Bailey Dyches, the niece of one of the victims, stated, “He (George Stinney) was tried, found guilty by the laws of 1944, which are completely different now—it can’t be compared— and I think that it needs to be left as is.”13 Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen makes an important distinction in the Stinney case by stating that her task is not deciding whether Stinney is guilty or innocent, but rather to decide whether or not Stinney received a fair trial. On December 10, 2014, Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen vacated George Stinney’s conviction. Mullen ruled that Stinney’s confession was likely coerced and therefore inadmissible, “due to the power differential between his position as a 14-year-old black male apprehended and questioned by white, uniformed law enforcement in a small, segregated mill town in South Carolina.”14
George Stinney was tried, convicted of murdering two young White girls, and sentenced to death by electrocution, all in a single afternoon. The story of George Stinney showcases the irreversible actions that occur in a flawed criminal justice system that implements the death penalty primarily against minorities. The court system failed to provide George Stinney with a fair and impartial trial in 1944. As a result, George Stinney paid the ultimate price, death. 70 years after the death of Stinney, the Fourteenth Circuit Court in South Carolina ruled justly by vacating Stinney’s conviction. That moment on June 16, 1944 when 2,400 volts of electricity passed through Stinney’s body, it rendered him lifeless. The death of George Stinney sealed his fate in history as the youngest person executed in the 20th century. The finality of the death penalty by definition continues to risk the loss of innocents’ lives.
Warning: the video linked below is a very realistic, violent, and disturbing set of images of what the suffering and execution must have felt to young George Stinney Jr.
- Elaine Aradillas, Jill Smolowe, Howard Breuer, Michelle Boudin, “A Family’s Quest for Justice Wrongfully Executed,”(People, March, 2014), 73. ↵
- Charles Kelly, “Next Stop, Eternity,” (Life Rich Publishing, April 27, 2016), …. ↵
- Jesse Wegman, “A Boy’s Execution, 70 Years Later,” (New York: New York Times, June, 2014), 8. ↵
- Elaine Aradillas, Jill Smolowe, Howard Breuer, Michelle Boudin, “A Family’s Quest for Justice Wrongfully Executed,”(People, March, 2014), 75. ↵
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (1966). ↵
- Elaine Aradillas, Jill Smolowe, Howard Breuer, Michelle Boudin, “A Family’s Quest for Justice Wrongfully Executed,”(People, March, 2014), 75. ↵
- Elaine Aradillas, Jill Smolowe, Howard Breuer, Michelle Boudin, “A Family’s Quest for Justice Wrongfully Executed,”(People, March, 2014), 74. ↵
- Mark Kantrowitz, “The Killing of George Stinney Jr.,”(Rhode Island: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, 2018). ↵
- David Bruck, “Executing Teen Killers Again,” (The Washington Post, September 15, 1985). ↵
- Mark Kantrowitz, “The Killing of George Stinney Jr.,”(Rhode Island: Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, 2018). ↵
- Jesse Wegman, “George Stinney was Executed at 14,” (New York: New York Times, January 12, 2015), 9. ↵
- Lindsey Beaver, “It took 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. It took 70 years after his execution to exonerate him,” (The Washington Post, December 18, 2014). ↵
- Jesse Wegman, “George Stinney was Executed at 14,” (New York: New York Times, January 12, 2015), 8. ↵
- Brad Knickerbocker, “Executed at Age 14, George Stinney Exonerated 70 Years Later,”(Christian Science Monitor, December, 2014). ↵
97 comments
Cynthia Perez
If the true reason for him being executed was because of his skin color, then that’s just completely ignorant and unjustified, but there still stands the chance that he did kill those girls. I understand that laws were different back then with the lack of certain protections even a criminal should be evaluated by (ex: age limit of being tried for serious punishments) but to use the electric chair on a fourteen year old? Was there really no alternative? Also it’s bewildering knowing that his birth certificate was used as a piece of evidence against him to validate the electrocution rather than to prove the acts he was accused of. No one really knows, he honestly could have been innocent.
Joanna Martinez
George Stinney story is so important to American history and the arrogance that looms over the nations. His case is a prime example of the necessity of amendments that protect all of the country’s citizens. The accusation of Stinney killing the two girls was caused simply by the color of his skin. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time was George’s demise. Although segregation is nonexistent with physical barriers, it is still very prominent to the nation. People still notice race and stereotype based on appearance.
Samantha Estrada
I have read about this case somewhere but very briefly. It isn’t until now that I know the whole story. According to the police they got a confession but, like it was brought up in the article, he wasn’t aware of his rights which could have scared him into confessing something that might not have been true. I had been reading a case where these two little girls were convicted of murdering their best friend but they weren’t aware of their rights and the police/ investigators convinced them that they did by threatening them, this could be a similar situation! I think it noble of his siblings trying to bring him justice even after so many years And at the same time they are questioning and bringing to light the segregation and racism he faced.
Rahni Hingoranee
The story of George Stinney is extremely important to understanding what segregation really was like in the 1940’s in America. The article is heartbreaking. It is important that all of the following court cases came along to aid the justice system from making fatal mistakes like this. It is a relief to hear of his exoneration, but being 70 years too late, it seems to be useless. We can never get back that poor little boy’s life. The death penalty comes under major scrutiny because of situations like this.
Sydney Hardeman
I had never heard George Stinney’s story until now, so thank you for bringing awareness to it. Many may not understand why Stinney would confess to a crime he did not commit, but when you are that young and unaware of your rights, and you are being interrogated without your parents/guardian or a lawyer, it is almost impossible not to confess. It is a shame the way that they coerce people into confessing to crimes they did not commit. Unfortunately this has been, and still is, the case for so many people, specifically black men, due to systematic racism within our “justice” system. The way that mass incarceration disrupts families and communities is horrible. Nice article.
Saira Locke
I can’t believe that government officials allowed George Stinney to be executed at the age of just 14. No child that young should be punished with the death penalty for any type of crime. He was only a young boy who in his and his families heart knew that Stinney was innocent. Yet they had to sit back and let young Stinney die. It’s amazing to me how many innocent people are incarcerated and have to suffer while the guilty ones sit back and watch other people take blame for their actions. I hope the man who truly murdered those two little girls pays for the damage they have done.
Alin Bocardo Felix
As a criminal justice major, this story hurts me even more. The poor child, unfortunate enough to have crossed paths with the girls, and unfortunate enough to have been so kind so as to provide details, was murdered. Not only is the system broken, but the country in general. Then, and now. George is one of many examples of the broken system, not to diminish his story or his struggle, but to expand on the issues with what happens, especially to minorities, in our country. Poor George must have been terrified, forced into a confession that was more than likely physically forced out of him. A young African American in the 40s, against 40 and 50 year old white males is an unfair fight. There was no evidence, no witnesses, no timeline, and it was all in one day. How is it possible that they deemed it fair even in that time period? It was a time when prejudice ran at a higher rate, but that doesn’t mean people didn’t understand right from wrong, I will never understand nor side with people who claim it was just ‘those times’, because people have been conscious of their actions dating back thousands of years.
Hector Membreno
The story of George Stinney is the saddest story I have ever read. The fact that George a fourteen year old boy weighing less than 100 pounds could be sentence to death by electric chair for the “murder” of Betty June Binnicker, and Mary Emma Thames is just sad and completely unfair. He was given an completely unfair trial as the jury was composed of 12 white men that were more then likely racist.The judge of this trial and the 12 men of the jury are the ones who should be charged with murder and for ruining his families life as the were chased out of town by locals.
Audrey Uribe
The thought of a jury giving a 14 year old the death penalty based off of 2 police testimonies when the minor wasn’t even fully grown and weighted less than 100lbs really breaks my heart. I had been familiar of this case but very clear and smooth story telling. Unfair to this young boy that he was prosecuted for a crime due to discrimination and poor judgment of a jury. Even 70 years later the judge still wouldn’t exonerate him.
Sofia Martinez
It is hard to believe to think that the Criminal Justice System has been broken for over a century, and still does criminalize the minority groups in this country solely for their appearance. In this case, George Stinney was a falsely accused for a crime he did not commit, he was held against poor evidence and no alibis, while being fourteen years old and no proof of being a possible suspect. Other than wrongly criminalizing a person, I believe that this form of death penalty should stay illegal, not only because it is inhumane, because of wrongly accusing a person.