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Politics

Backroom Briefing: 'Groveland Four' Pardon Gets Attention

December 21, 2018 - 6:00am
Nikki Fried and Jimmy Patronis
Nikki Fried and Jimmy Patronis

Democrat Nikki Fried, the incoming state agriculture commissioner, drew praise at the start of the week when she called for granting a pardon to the “Groveland Four” after next month’s inauguration events.

But her thunder was stolen Wednesday as current Republican Cabinet members appeared to start rushing to take up the case, which they have not addressed in the past.

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the only Cabinet member who will return to his post in January, started a process Wednesday so that the state clemency board --- comprised of the governor and Cabinet members --- could take up an April 2017 legislative resolution requesting the state clear the four African-American men accused in 1949 of raping a white woman in Lake County.

Patronis spokeswoman Anna Alexopoulos Farrar said the request is for the current board or for the governor and Cabinet that will take office Jan. 8.

Shortly after Patronis’ action, Attorney General Pam Bondi asked Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen to determine if the Groveland Four could also have their names cleared through the court system.

“A pardon will not exonerate the Groveland Four,” Bondi, who will leave office in January, tweeted. “A pardon is a state action to forgive convicted individuals. In addition to a pardon, if innocent, the Groveland Four should have their names cleared through the courts. I'm asking FDLE to review this case.”

Even U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took up the case this week, urging Tuesday that the “new Florida cabinet” approve pardons for the Groveland Four and describing what happened to the men as a “grave injustice.”

“Because after 70 years, it is time for Florida to do the right thing for ‘the Groveland Four,’ ” Rubio said.

Earnest Thomas, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin were the Groveland Four, with author Gilbert King winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for his book about the case, “Devil in the Grove.”

Thomas was killed by a posse after the rape accusation. The three other men were beaten to coerce confessions before they were convicted by an all-white jury.

Greenlee, at 16 was given a life sentence. Shepherd and Irvin, both U.S. Army veterans, were sentenced to death. Shepherd and Irvin were later shot, with Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall claiming the two handcuffed men tried to flee while being transported to a new trial. Shepherd died. Irvin told the FBI he was shot in cold blood.

Gov. Leroy Collins commuted Irvin’s sentence to life in prison. Irvin was paroled in 1968 and died a year later. Greenlee, released from prison in the early 1960s, died in 2012.

Fried issued a statement Wednesday in which she expressed her appreciation for Patronis’ “timely action on this important issue that has been ignored for far too long.”

TIME MANAGEMENT

Since announcing that he wouldn’t leave the governor’s office early to move to the U.S. Senate. Gov. Rick Scott’s official daily calendar has featured a charity food drive, a presidential funeral, three days with some attention to the Panhandle’s hurricane recovery and 10 days with “no scheduled events.”

After Scott narrowly defeated Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in last month’s election, a Scott spokesman said Dec. 4 that the governor intended to maintain a promise “to fight for Florida families every single day of his term.” Scott secured an arrangement that will lead to a five-day delay in joining the Senate.

Scott had the option of resigning early as governor, moving to the Senate on Jan. 3 and elevating Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera to the office of governor until Ron DeSantis is inaugurated on Jan. 8.

A day after the announcement that Scott would serve the full term, he traveled to Washington for the funeral of President George H.W. Bush and returned to Tallahassee that night to host a holiday reception at the Governor’s mansion.

On Dec. 6, Scott’s schedule said he made afternoon telephone calls to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. State leaders have been lobbying to rebuild Tyndall Air Force base, which sustained heavy damage in Hurricane Michael in October.

The calls were followed by three days of Scott’s calendar including “no scheduled events.” On Dec. 10, Scott traveled to Tyndall, visiting an elementary school before having lunch with Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford and then meeting with Calhoun County Sheriff Glenn Kimbrel in Blountstown.

The next day, Scott met with Jackson County Sheriff Louis Roberts III in Marianna, had lunch with Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews and an afternoon meeting in Quincy with Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young.

On Dec. 12, Scott traveled to Miami for the Camacol holiday-basket charity event. A day later, Scott’s calendar noted “staff and call time” at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Since Dec. 14, the calendar has stated “No scheduled events.”

PATRONIS GETS PIZZA PARTY

While DeSantis, Lieutenant Gov.-elect Jeanette Nuñez and incoming First Lady Casey DeSantis will be honorees at a number of events around Tallahassee on the eve of the Jan. 8 inauguration and on inauguration day, Patronis will get his own slice of the celebration.

The Republican Party of Florida is putting on a party Jan. 7 at the Deck Pizza Pub for Patronis, who won a four-year term in the Nov. 6 election after being appointed last year by Scott. The downtown “wood fired” pizza joint in recent years housed the Southern Public House, Tucker Duke’s and Po Boys restaurant.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: “The decision to pull out of Syria was made despite overwhelming military advice against it. It is a major blunder. (If) it isn’t reversed it will haunt this administration & America for years to come.” --- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) blasting a decision by President Donald Trump to pull troops out of Syria.

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