This should be exhibit A on why the death penalty should be scrapped. If miscarriages of justice like this can happen, then it's practically certain that in cases involving the death penalty, you *will* kill innocent people.
But i don't want to hijack this onto a death penalty debate (which would be wildly off-topic). The main focus of this is the racist undertones of what was done. What really happened was that half of the male black population was rounded up and arbitrarily jailed for being black by the white people. It's a disgrace that this type of thing can happen, but we know it does. What's the bet that Coleman and his police associates will totally avoid any court cases/liability in this matter? My money's on them ending up being exonerated. Not because they're innocent, but because they're white.
One of the more striking accusations was that the guy who got the longest sentence was done because of an inter-racial marriage. Sadly, I can well believe this. In our societies, there really are some people so stupid as to believe interracial marriages are bad.
Also sadly, when talking to some of my relatives about the possibility of moving to Alabama, a few of them immediately proclaimed "Why would you want to go there? They're all a bunch of racists."
As false as this statement is, it's stories like this that keep the myth of an institutionally racist collection of southern states alive, and have garnered them the reputation even over here in the UK of being just as racist as they were 50 years ago.
Sad.
