- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of J. W. Claxton and Rebecca L. Garrett testifying at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on State Pardons and Paroles Board misconduct, Atlanta, Georgia, 1968 January 22
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- Harris, J. Robin (James Robin), 1925-1989
Tidwell, G. Ernest (George Ernest), 1931-
Garrett, Rebecca L.
Claxton, J. W. (Joseph Wilbur), 1911-1986 - Date of Original:
- 1968-01-22
- Subject:
- Legislative hearings--Georgia
Parole boards--Government employees
Attorneys general opinions--Georgia
Political corruption--Georgia
Parole boards--Corrupt practices
Pardon--Georgia
Parole--Georgia
Georgia--Officials and employees - People:
- Harris, J. Robin (James Robin), 1925-1989
Garrett, Rebecca L.
Claxton, J. W. (Joseph Wilbur), 1911-1986
Tidwell, G. Ernest (George Ernest), 1931-
Summerlin, W. Newsom (William Newsom), 1905-1976
Oates, Forrest C. - Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips from the House Judiciary Committee hearing in Atlanta, Georgia on January 22, 1968, State Pardons and Paroles Board members J. W. Claxton and Mrs. Rebecca L. Garrett testify on alleged misconduct. The clips open with Representative J. Robin Harris addressing the committee.
J. Robin Harris: "The committee determined that these proceedings insofar as the taking of evidence is concerned would be publicly held; however, I want to caution you that the primary purpose is to allow the members of this committee to hear the presentations, for upon their shoulders rest the responsibility of determining the merits of the two resolutions before them."
The next clip shows a man making notes while smoking a pipe. The next clip shows G. Ernest Tidwell speaking, but he cannot be heard. The next two clips show legislators watching the proceedings.
The next clip shows assistant attorney general G. Ernest Tidwell speaking and reading from a prepared statement/report: "H. L. Powers: in May of 1966, Ms. Garrett and Mr. Brooks denied parole. In August of 1966, Mr. Claxton and Ms. Garrett granted parole. There's nothing in this file to indicate or justify the reason for this change in decision."
The next clip shows Mrs. Garrett at the podium. An unidentified man in the background can be heard saying, "Cases were listed as exhibit A2, now the cases..." Mrs. Garrett interrupts and says, "We vote the way that our conscience tells us to vote, with the information that's in the file and other information that people do bring that we do not have available in the files. Now some attorneys have brought us some very information...very valuable information that we could parole a person that were not in our files."
The unidentified man continues: "As a matter of fact then it's more or less an intangible matter between the board members. The board members can vote without having to justify their position other than the matter of judgment, is that correct?" Mrs. Garrett can be heard replying, "Yes, sir" as the clip cuts to J. W. Claxton at the podium.
Claxton: "I don't know how many cases Mr. Oates represented, neither do I care. I don't know how many people that Mr. Summerlin represented, and neither do I care. The only thing that I can tell you as I look out over this audience, I see many faces that have appeared before this board. Many times you might have left there dissatisfied because you couldn't understand why we could not at that particular time grant parole."
The next clips show Mrs. Garrett chatting with some unidentified white men. The next clip shows Mr. Claxton sitting behind a table. The next clip shows various legislators at their desks watching the proceedings.
The next clip shows Mrs. Garrett at the podium again. She says, "When this board was created in 1943 it was an amendment to the constitution which gave the board the powers to make their own rules and regulations. In fact, this board is next to god himself. We could...if any of you were to get a sentence today, we could commute that sentence before you left out to go to jail to prison service and you'd never serve a day. We never have done it, but that's how powerful we are."
The next clip shows Claxton at the podium again. He says, "I owe no person or persons any apology for any official action that I have ever taken on the Pardon and Parole Board in reference to granting or denied."
Title supplied by cataloger.
Supporting information taken from the following source: Sibley, Celestine. "Innocent, Say Claxton, Mrs. Garrett." The Atlanta Constitution 23 January 1968. 1. Web. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn53027
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn53027
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn53027
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn53027/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn53027, Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of J. W. Claxton and Rebecca L. Garrett testifying at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on State Pardons and Paroles Board misconduct, Atlanta, Georgia, 1968 January 22, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1439, 12:08/15:48, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 3 mins., 40 secs.): color, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
