Murders’ Identities in a 1946 Mass Lynching Could Be Revealed After Court Ruling

1946 Mass LynchingUPDATED: 2019/02/12 1:00PM

On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, affirmed a lower court’s ruling that ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the 1946 Moore’s Ford lynching case that involved what is widely regarded as the “last mass-lynching” in American history.

On July 25, 1946, two black couples were riding in a car in Walton County, Ga., when they were mobbed by a group of white men. They were dragged from the car at gunpoint, tied up, then shot — about 60 times, at close range — and killed. Although a grand jury convened and numerous witnesses testified for 16 days, there were never any charges brought leaving the case unsolved to this day.

Now, more than 70 years later, what was said during the grand jury hearings may be on the verge of becoming public.

In a 2-to-1 opinion, Judge Charles R. Wilson wrote that the event was so obviously of “exceptional historical significance” that “the interest in disclosure outweighed the interest in continued secrecy.”

It’s the hope of family members of the deceased that the shedding of light on these hidden transcripts, even all these years later will help provide closure for their losses these many years later.