Alabama Post-Conviction Relief Project

On the eve of the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, we remember people beaten for demanding justice on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Yet today, Mr. Myers could spend the rest of his life in prison after being forced, as a Black man, to accept legal representation from a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The struggle for justice didn’t end in 1965.

On the advice of Klonsel: A look under the hood of an Alabama injustice Rocky Myers, a Black man, was sentenced to death after being represented at trial by John Mays, a court-appointed attorney long affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.

Watch the virtual press conference March 4 at 11am ET/10am CT emceed by Undisclosed Podcast host Rabia Chaudry and special guest speakers. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5xrVVRwAKQ

"I am deeply disappointed in how this case has slipped through the cracks, and am concerned about Alabama’s system of justice if it allows Mr. Burton’s ex*****on. Justice should not be rigid or blind to context. It should be thoughtful. It should be humane. It should allow for mercy when mercy is warranted."

I sentenced a man to die in Alabama. I was wrong: op-ed I once helped sentence a man to die. That truth will always stay with me. But today, I am asking my state to choose a different path.