Tom Joyner Seeks Pardon Of Two Great Uncles

Tom Joyner

Syndicated morning man TOM JOYNER is asking the state of SOUTH CAROLINA to pardon two of his great-uncles -- who were black landowners executed in 1915 -- posthumously. The men were convicted of murdering a Confederate Army veteran. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports JOYNER discovered what had happened to the men, THOMAS and MEEKS GRIFFIN, while filming a documentary "African-American Lives 2," for PBS.

JOYNER was one of a dozen people who had their lineage traced for the documentary.

"The records will show they did not do what they were executed for, and maybe now they can rest in peace," JOYNER told THE AP. "I started trying to put myself in my great-uncles' position and tried to imagine what they must've been going through. It's very unusual for stories like this to be passed down from generation to generation among African-Americans. As a people, we don't like to pass along bad news about family,"

Should the pardon be granted by Gov. MARK SANFORD, it would be the first awarded posthumously in a capital murder case in SOUTH CAROLINA.

« see more Net News