February 18, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 33 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GROVELAND FOUR MONUMENT DEDICATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROSS SPANO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 18, 2020

  Mr. SPANO. Madam Speaker, I rise in memory of four young African 
American men who in 1949 in Lake County, FL, were harshly and unjustly 
mistreated by our judicial system--Charles Greenlee, Walter Irving, 
Samuel Shepherd, and Ernest Thomas.
  The Groveland Four case, as it become known, centered around the 
alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old white girl and an attack on her 
husband. Given the cruel reality of the social and racial divide of 
1949 Florida, it would have been impossible for these young men to 
receive a fair and unbiased trial, despite being represented by 
Thurgood Marshall.
  The incident lit a chain of events in our community that will forever 
be remembered as some of the most painful and scarring moments in our 
history. Almost 70 years later, the City of Groveland and Lake County 
apologized to their survivors and in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis officially 
pardoned the men--actions I commend.
  It is never too late for justice, and never too late to do what is 
right. We have grown since those times in Lake County, but we're not 
done. I pray that the Groveland Four Monument brings some healing to 
their surviving family members, and that it is a constant reminder to 
us to always pursue truth and justice for all of our citizens.

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