| Jimmy
Wilson sentenced to death
for stealing $1.95
On July 29, 1957, James
"Jimmy" Wilson, a black handyman, was
arrested for stealing $1.95 from Estelle Barker,
an 82-year-old white woman Wilson had previously
done work for, in Marion, Alabama. According to
Barker, Wilson had forced his way into her house
on the evening of June 27, made her empty her
purse on her bed, and had tried to rape her
before running out of the house with a handful of
change.
An all-white jury convicted
Wilson of robbery. Under the laws in effect at
the time, robbery was considered a capital crime,
and Wilson was sentenced to death by
electrocution. The case was appealed to the
Alabama Supreme Court, which on June 12, 1958
upheld the death sentence. In its opinion,
the Court stressed that the conviction was due to
the violent nature of the robbery, and that
"the amount of the money ... taken is
immaterial."
The case received international coverage, with
critical articles appearing in newspapers all
across the world. Protest groups were formed and
petitions were sent demanding that the death
sentence be overturned. Governor James
E. Folsom yielded to the protests on
September 29, 1958, and commuted the sentence to
life imprisonment. Wilson was paroled on October
1, 1973, after having served 16 years in prison.
James Wilson is taken from
the capitol after a clemency hearing before
Governor Folsom.
James
E. Folsom
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