The courtroom was hushed. The crowd of Texans watched the prisoner in grim silence. He was a Negro, named Bob White. The charge: raping a white woman. It was the third time he had been on trial.
Three years ago White had been sentenced. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction. He was tried again, convicted again. His case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the verdict was reversed. Texas officials applied for a rehearing but the court turned them down. Onetime Ku Kluxer Justice Hugo Black* angrily rehashed White's story of beatings and violence used to force...
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