The Martinsville Seven by Eric W. Rise

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Author
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The Martinsville Seven:
Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment

Eric W. Rise

232 pages, 6 x 9 • Cloth $45.00 • Paper $19.50

Cloth ISBN 0-8139-1567-8 • Paper ISBN 0-8139-1830-8

This book offers the first comprehensive treatment of the case of the Martinsville Seven, a group of young black men executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman in Martinsville, Virginia. Covering every aspect of the proceedings from the commission of the crime through two appeals, Eric W. Rise reexamines common assumptions about the administration of justice in the South. Although the defendants confessed to the crime, racial prejudice undeniably contributed to their eventual executions. Rise highlights the efforts of the attorneys who, rather than focusing on procedural errors, directly attacked the discriminatory application of the death penalty. The Martinsville Seven case was the first instance in which statistical evidence was used to prove systematic discrimination against blacks in capital cases.

Reviews

"This is a valuable and memorable contribution to constitutional and civil rights history; it is well written and thoroughly researched, and the study demonstartes how due process and equal protection arguments failed when placed against subtle, but very real, racial expectations within the southern legal system."

--Historian

"The story of the Martinsville Seven is a fascinating and important one, and Rise tells it well. . . . He has written a book that historians as well as lawyers can comprehend and that both ought to read."

--Journal of American History

"Rise has produced a model study which reminds us that formalism can serve to defend unfairness. His study also underscores the relationship between law and society."

--American Journal of Legal History

The Author

Eric W. Rise is Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware.

Related Links

The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment
by Eric Rise
282 pages, 6 x 9
Cloth ISBN 0-8139-1567-8 $45.00
Paper ISBN 0-8139-1830-8 $19.50

http://www.upress.virginia.edu/rise.html

Revised 11/21/08

Reviews Author Related Links To Order		The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment
		Eric W. Rise
		232 pages, 6 x 9 • Cloth $45.00 • Paper $19.50
		Cloth ISBN 0-8139-1567-8 • Paper ISBN 0-8139-1830-8
		This book offers the first comprehensive treatment of the case of the Martinsville Seven, a group of young black men executed in 1951 for the rape of a white woman in Martinsville, Virginia. Covering every aspect of the proceedings from the commission of the crime through two appeals, Eric W. Rise reexamines common assumptions about the administration of justice in the South. Although the defendants confessed to the crime, racial prejudice undeniably contributed to their eventual executions. Rise highlights the efforts of the attorneys who, rather than focusing on procedural errors, directly attacked the discriminatory application of the death penalty. The Martinsville Seven case was the first instance in which statistical evidence was used to prove systematic discrimination against blacks in capital cases.
		Reviews
		"This is a valuable and memorable contribution to constitutional and civil rights history; it is well written and thoroughly researched, and the study demonstartes how due process and equal protection arguments failed when placed against subtle, but very real, racial expectations within the southern legal system." --Historian "The story of the Martinsville Seven is a fascinating and important one, and Rise tells it well. . . . He has written a book that historians as well as lawyers can comprehend and that both ought to read." --Journal of American History "Rise has produced a model study which reminds us that formalism can serve to defend unfairness. His study also underscores the relationship between law and society." --American Journal of Legal History
		The Author
		Eric W. Rise is Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware.
		Related Links


		The Martinsville Seven: Race, Rape, and Capital Punishment by Eric Rise 282 pages, 6 x 9 Cloth ISBN 0-8139-1567-8 $45.00 Paper ISBN 0-8139-1830-8 $19.50
		http://www.upress.virginia.edu/rise.html
		Revised 11/21/08