Partial Facebook Posts Archive Since 2016, Lew Powell has posted about Junior Chandler and the Little Rascals Day Care Case on a Facebook page. Below are the posts that offered material not already on this website. Each post included a link to a news item or other Internet material. By late 2021, some of […]
April 13, 2021 If I had harbored even an iota of doubt about Junior Chandler’s innocence, it would’ve been vaporized by the podcast episode below. Most dramatically, the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic’s meticulously assembled “Impossibility Exhibit” demonstrates that Junior was nowhere near the scene of his imaginary crimes…. But is the court paying attention?
March 1, 2021 I was surprised recently to notice a Facebook message from an elementary school teacher in Greenville, N.C. Buddy Hyatt had grown up in Edenton and wanted to talk about the Little Rascals Day Care case. “It ripped apart many families and almost destroyed the town,” he wrote. “In 1989, when the accusations […]
Sept. 22, 2020 A burst of sunshine in these grim times. A note arrived today from Little Rascals Day Care case exoneree Bob Kelly: “Today, 25 years ago, because of Mark Montgomery’s wonderfully written and argued brief, I walked into FREEDOM…. Thanks to him and people like you who have believed in us!”
Nov. 27, 2019 Betsy Kelly is paroled from the Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh. In January she accepted a plea of “no contest” and a sentence of seven years in prison. Since she had already served two years and two weeks in jail, she became eligible for parole almost immediately. But Assistant Attorney General […]
Nov. 26, 2019 I’ve previously cited here and here Elle magazine’s deeply reported 1993 article on the Little Rascals case. You can read it here. But I had somehow overlooked this response to Greensboro journalists Edward Cone and Lisa Scheer from assistant attorney general Bill Hart. It has not aged well. Dear Ed and Lisa, […]
Three years ago a former Edenton resident told me: “The town leaders still have some things to answer for about Little Rascals, and I suspect that until there is a process of reconciliation, the town will remain a troubled place, though it does a good job putting on a facade.” Edenton will elect its town […]
July 7, 2019 For those seeking to understand the Little Rascals Day Care case one particularly intriguing question remains: How do the former child-witnesses, now well into their 30s, look back at their central role? Do they believe today that their testimony was accurate? Or have they come to realize that those bizarre sexual accusations […]
March 9, 2019 Pete Manning, 89, died Feb. 21 at his home in Edenton. Before retiring, Manning worked more than 50 years at the Chowan Herald, most prominently as publisher. As prosecution of Edenton Seven lurched forward, members of the local “Believe the Children” cohort grew wary of the news media. Early on, however – […]
Feb. 11, 2019 “Such stories aren’t proudly passed down from one generation to the next. Unlike some small Southern towns, which often ignore the troublesome elements of their past, Batesburg-Leesville (the two towns merged in 1993) has embraced [Isaac] Woodard’s tragedy and tried to make amends….” – From “A cop gouged out a black vet’s […]