CHARLES EDRET FORD: A WRONGFUL 64-YEAR SENTENCE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Charles Edret Ford was an American citizen who went down in history as one of the longest- serving incarcerated people in the United States. Ford was jailed in the mid-1970s, when racism was a problem within the United States.

Ford was in prison for 64 years, but the most surprising thing about his story is that he was not guilty of committing any crime. However, despite the lack of necessary evidence, the judge judged him guilty of murder, condemning him to a life in prison.

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At the beginning of the current decade, his case was analyzed again by a North American court where the long-awaited old man Ford was released.

It is not only one of the most famous cases in American judicial history, but also in the entire American continent, as the sentence is related to the problems of racism in the United States.

History

Racism in the United States

To understand the reason for discrimination against people of color in trials, it is necessary to analyze the character of American society since colonial times. Men like Charles Edret Ford were subjected to discriminatory treatment in "white" courts because of their skin color.

Throughout the history of the United States (since the days of slavery, in fact), there have been problems of racism. Discrimination against people of color is reflected in many aspects of society. Although slavery was abolished in the late 19th century, the problems continue to this day.

After World War II, the United States entered a very aggressive era of racism. Crowds of white people came to "lynch" black men because of banal attitudes, such as the murder of a 14-year-old black boy for whistling at a white woman.

These racial problems were also very common in the courts. In the case of Charles Edret Ford, the jury and judge handling the case were white people. The evidence to convict him was not enough, but because he was a colored man, he was sent to prison.

The Ford case

First, Ford was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder in 1952. As far as is known, he was not at the scene of the incident during the event that occurred at the scene of this crime.

Later in 1975 he was charged again with second degree assault, while out of prison for a leave of absence.

The woman who was attacked on this occasion saw a man standing next to a red car. This man started chasing her (even though she had her two nephews with her) and started telling her that he was going to kill her. The sister of the attacked woman heard the screams, went to help her and the suspect fled.

This suspect had been seen next to a car, which was registered as a rental in the name of Charles Ford. However, Ford was not responsible for committing these acts of which he was accused.

Trials and charges

Interestingly, in both Ford trials in 1952 and 1975, the entire jury was made up of white people, as was the judge. The amount of evidence presented against Ford was not only small, it was also short in force.

During the assault trial in 1975, the woman who was assaulted on the street identified a man similar to Ford as the suspect, although she never directly blamed him.

Beyond the opinion of the woman, the judge made the decision to blame Ford on the basis that the man whom the woman had blamed and Ford himself, had a similar physique. Finally, the jury agreed with the motion.

Place of trial and racism issues

Importantly, the murder trial took place in the southern United States, whose states have always tended to be much more racist than the rest of the country.

This fact even goes back to the American Civil War, where the North defeated the South so that Washington later declared the abolition of slavery.

In the middle of the 20th century, racism in the South was a much bigger problem even than it is today. This was a key factor in prosecuting Ford as guilty of murder.

During the murder trial, Ford was not allowed to bring his designated witnesses to attest that he was, in fact, not at the scene. The judge's negligence meant a new review of the decision in 2016, when he was released.

Release

After being imprisoned in 1952 and then receiving a further trial for assault in 1975, Charles Edret Ford was released on March 23, 2016.

He was first placed in a medical care facility under the supervision of the police forces, but shortly thereafter he was released without police supervision.

The same judge who released him, named James West, even commented in court that if Ford had not received the second assault trial, he would most likely have been released in the 1970s.

To date, Charles Edret Ford remains the longest serving prisoner in the state of Maryland. Furthermore, he is one of the longest serving prisoners despite having been innocent in all of modern history.

References

1. Racism in the United States, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
2. Man imprisoned for 64 years released to nursing center, J. Norris in The Bay Net, 2015. Taken from thebaynet.com
3. Man free at last after 64 years in prison, J. Norris in The Bay Net, 2016. Taken from thebaynet.com
4. A History of Race and Racism in America, in 24 Chapters, I. Kendi in New York Times, 2017. Taken from nytimes.com
5. List of longest prison sentences served, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org