29/06/2011
Irish Man Hanged In US Pardoned
An Irish immigrant hanged over 150 years ago in America following a tainted trial is set to be pardoned.
John Gordon was convicted of murdering Amasa Sprague, the brother of a US senator.
Hanged in 1845, he was the last man executed in the state of Rhode Island.
The state's General Assembly has now passed legislation urging governor Lincoln Chafee to pardon Mr Gordon.
He is scheduled to sign the proclamation today, at the Old State House, in Providence, where Gordon’s trial took place.
Law professors and historians believe evidence against Mr Gordon was tainted by widespread bigotry against Irish Catholics at the time.
(BMcN/KMcA)
John Gordon was convicted of murdering Amasa Sprague, the brother of a US senator.
Hanged in 1845, he was the last man executed in the state of Rhode Island.
The state's General Assembly has now passed legislation urging governor Lincoln Chafee to pardon Mr Gordon.
He is scheduled to sign the proclamation today, at the Old State House, in Providence, where Gordon’s trial took place.
Law professors and historians believe evidence against Mr Gordon was tainted by widespread bigotry against Irish Catholics at the time.
(BMcN/KMcA)
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