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September 1, 2021

Virginia Gov. Grants Posthumous Pardons to 7 Black Men Executed in 1951
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Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has granted posthumous pardons to seven
Black men who were executed in 1951 after being convicted of allegedly
raping a white woman. The men - who became known as the Martinsville
Seven - were tried by juries made up of only white men, and advocates
say they were coerced into confessing. Northam said the pardons don't
address whether the seven men were guilty or innocent but that they're a
recognition that they were tried without adequate due process and that
the men received a "racially biased death sentence not similarly applied
to white defendants."