Why do they still call it lynching?

Old term for mob violence still used,
but invoking it can cause confusion

May 1, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Willie Earle might have expected to have the chance to defend himself.
He would have been wrong.
Arrested Feb. 16, 1947 on allegations that he robbed and stabbed a taxi driver in Pickens County, Earle’s stay in jail was brief. A mob of 31 white men stormed the jail the following day and pulled the 24-year-old black man out of his cell.
His body was found early the next morning on the outskirts of Greenville County. He died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Earle’s death led to outrage across South Carolina and the rest of the nation, resulting in the adoption of state “anti-lynching” laws in 1951.
The statute was designed to curtail the bloody history of white vigilante justice in the state, but makes no distinctions of race. Instead, it defines lynching as a violent crime committed by two or more people, and is used frequently across the state to prosecute assault cases involving groups of people.
Race is still a factor in lynching incidents in South Carolina, but probably not in the manner envisioned by the authors of the statute. According to an Associated Press analysis of crime statistics, 63 percent of those charged with lynching in South Carolina are black.
“Yes, there is definitely a disconnect between the popular meaning of the term, and how it is used in the law,” said Eldon Wedlock, a constitutional law professor at the University of South Carolina.
“The difference is that the popular meaning of lynching entered the vocabulary … through images of black men hanging from trees,” Wedlock said. “Whereas the term, as it’s used in the law, is very different and doesn’t specify race or require the use of the rope. It’s just a group of people that decided to beat up someone else — or kill them.”
Lynching is a term that appears frequently in published police reports across state newspapers, often to reader confusion. Last week, Greenwood police investigated a reported lynching where someone claimed to have been assaulted by 30 men. In Calhoun Falls, police added first-degree lynching charges to four men and a juvenile arrested in the fatal assault of an 18-year-old man. And last August four teens learned the legal definition of lynching when they were charged in a fight outside a Greenwood Laundromat.
“The lynching statute has a place,” said 8th Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace, prosecutor for Greenwood, Abbeville, Laurens and Newberry counties.
Peace spent the early part of his legal career as an Army lawyer, and said he was baffled when reading about a Dillon County lynching case soon after his discharge.
“I had to look it up,” he said. “(Lynching) has the old connotation.”
As a legal term, lynching is something that would have to be explained thoroughly to a jury at the start of a trial. Peace said a less-incendiary word might be more practical in the courtroom, and that he’d prefer a term more indicative of mob violence.
Lynching is a statutory offense and would require legislation to make changes to the law, said S.C. Supreme Court Justice James Moore, a Greenwood resident.
While rare, it is not impossible to adjust legal terminology in South Carolina. “Rape” is a word no longer used in criminal charges, having been replaced by various degrees of “criminal sexual conduct.”
Moore said the definition of “rape” was changed not because it is a provocative word, but because it was too broad.
“It was changed to bring it more in line with actuality,” Moore said. “There would be different degrees of criminal sexual conduct depending on the age of the victim or the age of the defendant, as well as the different degrees of seriousness of the crime.”
Wedlock said it is not uncommon for legal terminology to have broad meanings that conflict with popular connotations.
“‘Distribution’ has a much wider meaning than it’s popularly thought of,” Wedlock said. “For example, in this state a woman can be found to have distributed drugs to her unborn fetus.”
It’s unlikely that lynching laws will be revised anytime soon, though.
“That’s up to the legislators,” Wedlock said. “They apparently have other things to do than revisit those kinds of questions. I think it’s just an additional hurdle that prosecutors have to get used to.”

Wallace McBride covers Greenwood and general assignments in the Lakelands. He can be reached at 223-1812, or: wmcbride@indexjournal.com

Local residents walk for babies

May 1, 2005

By TASHA STEIMER
Index-Journal staff writer

Despite the rain, more than 100 people showed up Saturday morning for the WalkAmerica event for the March of Dimes.
Teams of adults, children, babies and pets turned out for the annual event at Lander University, with jackets and umbrellas in tow.
Missy Wines, community director for the Upstate Division of the organization, said more than $100,000 was raised locally this year.
“I just want to thank Greenwood for their support,” she said. “They did a great job and they were wonderful to come out and walk in the thunder and lightning.”
Barbara Butler, a K4 teacher at The Learning Vine, said staff and teachers were walking “for my babies at the daycare.”
Terrena Ginn, assistant director of the daycare center, said the staff has been participating in the walk since 2000.
“It’s a charity we wanted to be a part of because a lot of children at the center were born premature,” she said. “This helps our children know and understand that we’re helping other children.”
Ginn said the center began raising funds in February and surpassed its goal by $300 by collecting more than $1,700.
“All of our staff, teachers and parents helped raise money – even the children brought in their spare change,” she said. “It was a good collaboration and really shows a community effort.”
Christi Redden, of Greenwood, said she started walking 16 months ago after her son, Ethan, was born.
“I haven’t done a walk for the March of Dimes since high school so it’s been forever,” she said. “I heard about this one and decided to come and help the babies.”
Although her children – Ethan and 14-year-old Jamie – were not born premature, Redden said she knew several women who had given birth early.
“You’ve seen pictures but I can’t even comprehend how little a baby born at one pound would be. Both of mine were born at seven and eight pounds,” she said. “I’m excited and looking forward to walking.”
Redden said the annual walk is not only a good way to get people involved, but also a way to promote awareness through the community.
March of Dimes supports the prevention of birth defects through education and funds research to determine the process of birth defects and the importance of pre-natal care.

Tasha Steimer covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3305, or: tsteimer@indexjournal.com

Opinion

Improving the tax system: What does it really mean?

May 1, 2005

You don’t have to tell anyone that improving the income tax minefield, sometimes called income tax returns, is a complicated exercise in frustration. Every taxpayer in South Carolina who has struggled with the forms knows that all too well. So, making some improvements not only should be welcomed, it should be demanded.
The White House supports deductions that are popular with taxpayers, so they should be protected. Tops on the list are deductions for businesses that provide health insurance for employees. This is followed closely by home mortgage deductions, capital gains break for home sales, deductions for charitable deductions and a child tax credit.
It’s encouraging that this commission is studying the tax laws, although a statement by one of its members is sure to bring questions.

THE PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY Panel on Federal Tax Reform is chaired by former Florida Senator Connie Mack, Republican. He said, “We have lost sight of the fact that the fundamental purpose of our tax system is to raise revenues to fund government.”
He’s right, of course. Nevertheless, government has historically had a way of going beyond its fundamental purpose. For that reason, it’s always sobering to reread a couple of observations made by President Grover Cleveland in his day, more than a century ago. His words were relevant then, but they may be even more relevant now.
First he said, “When more of the people’s sustenance is exacted through the form of taxation than is necessary to meet the just obligations of Government and expenses of its economical administration, such exaction becomes ruthless extortion and a violation of the fundamental principles of a free Government.”

THERE’S THAT WORD “fundamental” again. Nowadays, there seems to be confusion over what “fundamental” means in the tax system.
Cleveland also noted, “The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and the better lesson taught that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their Government, its functions do not include the support of the people.”
Look at government spending today. Have we unlearned the lessons of paternalism? Emphatically, no! What we have learned, and it becomes more apparent every day, is that too many of us expect government to take care of us from cradle to grave. And, too many politicians are too happy to oblige ….. for votes.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Nell Blackwell

ABBEVILLE — Ophelia “Nell” Carroll Blackwell, 74, of 300 Wardlaw St., wife of the Rev. James N. Blackwell, died Saturday, April 30, 2005 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Services will be announced by The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home.

Frances R. Brown

ABBEVILLE — Frances R. Brown, 64, of 1201 Secession Ave., Lot 6, died Saturday, April 30, 2005 at Abbeville County Memorial Hospital.
She attended Abbeville County public schools and was of the Methodist faith.
Survivors include a companion of the home, Howard Elijah Enwright; three daughters, Mrs. Stevie (Loretta) Paul, Melinda Brown and Mrs. Carl (Meredith) Lyons, all of Abbeville; three sons, James Brown of Anderson, Shantee Brown and Leon Brown, both of Abbeville; four sisters, Lillie Mae Brown, Betty Brown and Beatrice Coleman, all of Abbeville and the Rev. Helen Tate of Camden, N.J.; four brothers, Jimmy Brown of Atlanta, George Brown of Camden, N.J., Gene Brown of Fla. and Leroy Brown of Anderson; 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
The family is at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stevie (Loretta) Paul, 411 Cambridge St., Abbeville.
Services will be announced by Abbeville and White Mortuary.

Jiggs Dobbins

John D. “Jiggs” Dobbins, 84, of NHC Health Care Center, widower of Lena Dorn Dobbins, died Friday, April 29, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Gaffney, he was a son of the late Audy Logan Dobbins and Lenora Pearson Dobbins Anthony. He retired from the Harris Plant of Greenwood Mills and was an Army WWII veteran where he received a Purple Heart.
Survivors include two daughters, Debra Rodgers of Ninety Six and Joyce Miller of Abbeville; a son, Johnny Dobbins of Laurens; two sisters, Betty Porter of Greenwood and Edna McAbee of Gaffney; a half sister, Imogene Reynolds of Gaffney; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Graveside services are 2 p.m. Monday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, conducted by the Rev. Marion Jay.
Pallbearers are Jason Crowder, Shane Salters, Phil Smallwood, Jason Long, Gerald and Chris Miller and David and Scotty Dobbins.
The body is at Harley Funeral Home.
Visitation is 6-9 tonight at the home of his sister, Betty Porter, 229 W. Deadfall Road.
The family is at the home of his sister, Betty Porter.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

John R. Latimer

BELTON — John R. Latimer, 71 of 109 Oak St., husband of Geraldine Crawford Latimer, died Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at Greenville Hospital Systems in Travelers Rest, S.C.
Born in Abbeville County, he was a son of the late Cagie Latimer and the late Beatrice Power Latimer. He was a member of Springfield Baptist Church in Level Land, S.C.
Survivors include his wife of the home; three sisters, Alberta Evans of Honea Path, Lela Garrett of Jamaica, N.Y. and Evangelist Jean Dorn of Greenwood.
Services are 11 a.m. Tuesday at Springfield Baptist Church in Level Land, S.C.
Marcus D. Brown Funeral Home, Anderson, is in charge.
Announcement courtesy of Parks Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Willie Page

MOUNT CARMEL — Services for Willie Page are 2 p.m. Monday at Rockford A.M.E. Church, conducted by the Revs. Fred Armfield, Glenn Mims, Paul Garrett and Robert Belcher. The body will be placed in the church at 1.
Burial is in the church cemetery.
The family is at the home of his daughter, 3301 Scotts Ferry Road, Greenwood.
Brown and Walker Funeral Home, Abbeville, is in charge.