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Wednesday's letters: Justice at last for the Groveland Four

Wednesday's letters to the editor
 
Published Jan. 15, 2019

And justice for Four | Jan. 12

Many helped correct injustice

"I don't think there is any way you can look at this case and see justice was carried out," spoke Gov. Ron DeSantis upon pardoning the Groveland Four. It is encouraging to see the newly elected governor and the mostly new Cabinet taking this long overdue action affirming the injustice done in 1949 to the four African-American men wrongly convicted, incarcerated and, in the case of three, murdered.

While as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The time is always right to do what is right," the role played by the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) in this case in 1950 also deserves to be acknowledged. Norman Bunin, a 26-year-old copy editor at the Times, took an interest in the case, subsequently writing a multipart expose, which developed many leads indicating the innocence of those convicted. The Groveland Four's attorney, Thurgood Marshall (later Supreme Court justice), used that information in part to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the convictions of two and order a retrial.

Later, when one of the two was reconvicted by a Lake County jury, Marshall contacted Times editor Tom Harris to solicit the Times' support in petitioning the governor for a pardon. Harris subsequently ran a number of editorials calling for justice. Harris himself was later personally rebuked by a Lake County grand jury for "smearing the good people of Lake County and its law enforcement officers" for running the expose and editorials.

Martin Luther King also observed that the quest for justice often requires "tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." In this case the tireless and passionate efforts of Norman Bunin, Tom Harris and Thurgood Marshall, among others, stand out.

Will Michaels, St. Petersburg

The writer is former director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History and author of "The Making of St. Petersburg."

FBI counterintelligence eyed Trump as possible foreign asset | Jan. 13

Don't try Trump in the media

The concept of innocent until proven guilty should apply to the presidency and the media. There are established channels to settle suspicion about President Donald Trump's ties to Russia — if there are any — and it is not the media. His trade deficit fight with China, tightening border security with Mexico, planning to shed some costs and shifting them to free-loading NATO and Middle Eastern allies and — most important of all — aiming to produce quality manufactured products on U.S. soil, are indications that he is indeed putting American national interests first. Reduction in the unemployment rate and the increase in GDP since his presidency are no small matters. If more than 40 percent of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense, it is time to find a solution, and it seems to me the president is on it.

A. Halim Hakimi, Tampa

Front-page news was buried

I'm wondering why two very important stories were buried in the Sunday edition on page 10. The headline on one says, "FBI counterintelligence eyed Trump as possible foreign asset," and the other, "Trump concealed details of encounter with Putin." These are stories that should have been on the front page. Florida citizens who support President Donald Trump need to read these stories as they continue steadfastly to support his positions.

Stephanie Bonnivier, San Antonio