He Calls Me by Lightning

March 6, 2017
This account of 17-year-old Caliph Washington’s wrongful conviction for a 1957 murder serves as a piercing primer on racism in the American justice system. On July 12, 1957, on a deserted Alabama highway, there was a deadly encounter between 17-year-old Caliph Washington, a black teenager, and James “Cowboy” Clark, a white policeman. Convicted of murder and sentenced to execution the following October, Washington was ultimately released on Mar. 17, 1971. Historian Bass (Blessed Are the Peacemakers) keeps a sharp focus on the town of Bessemer, Ala., known for a “general climate of violence” and corruption, as he proceeds through Washington’s multiple trials and appeals in his lengthy trek through local, state, and federal jurisdictions. The book includes detailed accounts of legal maneuvers and decisions, complemented by biographical sketches of just about everyone involved—judges, lawyers, prosecutors, policemen, politicians, fellow prisoners, and Washington’s family and friends. A casual reader may get lost in the thicket, but the details—such as the technical workings of the electric chair or a discussion of the salaries of prison guards—are eye-opening and carve out deeper complexities of the American justice system. 25 illus.

Starred review from February 1, 2017
An examination of an infamous 1957 conviction of a young, black Army veteran for the murder of a white police officer that more broadly delineates the struggle for civil rights.In addition to digging up significant details on this important but little-known case, Bass (History/Samford Univ.; Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 2001) seamlessly weaves in a larger history of civil rights. On July 12, 1957, when James "Cowboy" Clark stopped black motorist Caliph Washington in the excessively corrupt city of Bessemer, Alabama, a struggle ensued. Clark ended up dead, and Washington fled, soon to be captured in Mississippi. Did Washington intentionally shoot longtime officer Clark during a struggle over Clark's gun, or could the struggle be considered self-defense due to Washington's fear that Clark intended to murder him out of racial hatred? Since the Alabama court system wanted to display at least the veneer of justice to the outside world, Washington went to trial. However, he received second-rate lawyering and faced an all-white jury. While on death row, Washington won a new trial due to courtroom irregularities. A second jury convicted Washington, who returned to death row. Under normal circumstances in Alabama, Washington would have been executed quickly at that juncture. However, the newly elected governor, George Wallace, despite his renown as a segregationist, felt uncomfortable with the death penalty, so he granted Washington reprieve after reprieve, which led to a second overturning of the guilty verdict. A third jury, no longer all-white, also convicted Washington. Appellate maneuvering continued for years until, finally, a judge ordered Washington's release in 1971. The state refused to drop the case, but a fourth trial never occurred, and Washington lived an exemplary life of faith and family until his death in 2001. Throughout a skilled recounting of Washington's travails, Bass offers extended riveting passages about the broader battle for civil rights in Alabama. A stirring book that explores numerous aspects of racism in Alabama and the nation as a whole.

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January 1, 2017

A Samford University historian tells the story of Caliph Washington, who was a teenager when he was wrongfully convicted of killing a policeman in 1957, and who was saved--a dozen times--from execution by electric chair.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
In the 1950s, the small Alabama town of Bessemer was notoriously corrupt, as local politicians, police, and ordinary citizens all wet their beaks in seeking illicit profits. Although the majority of the population was black, this was still the Jim Crow era and whites dominated all aspects of government, especially the police and court systems. On July 12, 1957, after a brief car chase, a white police officer, James Clark, died from a single bullet wound that ravaged his internal organs. The supposed murderer, a 17-year-old African American, Caliph Washington, fled the scene but was captured, quickly convicted, and sentenced to death. Thus began a decades-long struggle in the courts that played out against the context of the civil rights movement and the slow dismantling of white supremacy in this southern enclave. Bass, a professor of history at Alabama's Samford University, examines the prolonged legal and political battle to save Washington, and the broader social milieu in which the case unfolded, showing both insight and compassion. His chronicle includes a fascinating cast of characters, including police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and, most vividly, the arch-segregationist governor George Wallace. This is an outstanding look at both an apparent travesty of justice and the system that produced it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)