Chapter Twelve - Application For Pardon, 1983 - The Murder Of Little Mary Phagan, 1989 - Read By Vanessa Neubauer In 2015

This is the twelfth installment in a 13-part series of audiobooks from the "The Murder of Little Mary Phagan" book by Mary Phagan-Kean. This is the eleventh installment in a 13-part series of audiobooks from the "The Murder of Little Mary Phagan" book by Mary Phagan-Kean.

In October 1982, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles received a formal application for a posthumous pardon for Leo Frank. The Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Atlanta Jewish Federation filed the application, directed by a lawyer's committee chaired by Atlanta immigration lawyer Dale N. Schwartz. The board wanted to study the case with minimal outside pressure and publicity. The petitioners base their case for pardon not on the legality of the trial and conviction of Leo Frank but on extra legal concerns.

The Anti Defamation League staffer later stated that the Frank pardon was not simply a matter of one person, but rather an attempt to obtain an official repudiation of anti-Semitism and bigotry. The petitioners argued that exonerating Frank would mean "convicting Jim Conley" and possibly be construed as racism. The Atlanta Black Jewish Coalition declared that they must seize this opportunity and pursue justice.

Attorney Edgar Neely argued that the Georgia system of justice in 1913 was impugned, and the reputation of its lawyers in general, particularly Frank's counsel. The leaders of the pardon effort responded at length, outlining new evidence of Alonzo Mann, which had been unavailable to Frank's lawyers. Mobley Hole, then chairman of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, considered Neely's arguments carefully.

While Governor Joseph Harris, District Attorney Lewis Slayton, and the Georgia Senate expressed sympathy for the effort to exonerate Leo Frank, they also recommended obtaining a pardon from the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The petitioners began to see that a pardon would best fulfill the extra legal goals of Frank's exoneration and be considered by the public as definitive. Listen to the audio-video clip of the chapter for full details regarding the pardon.

Seeking Justice for Little Mary Phagan
https://www.LittleMaryPhagan.com

Please purchase the book, 'The Murder of Little Mary Phagan by Mary Frances Phagan Kean' to learn more about the Leo Frank case.