- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- Lena Baker case
- Creator:
- Phillips, Lela B., 1944-
- Date of Original:
- 2005-12-09
- Subject:
- Capital punishment
Female offenders--Georgia--Reidsville
Women murderers--Georgia--Reidsville
Death row inmates--Georgia--Reidsville
Prisoners--Georgia--Reidsville
Women prisoners--Georgia--Reidsville
Electrocution--Georgia--Reidsville
Women death row inmates--Georgia--Reidsville
Crime and race--Georgia
Criminal justice, Administration of--Georgia
Discrimination in criminal justice administration--Georgia - People:
- Baker, Lena, 1900-1945
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, Tattnall County, Reidsville, 32.08686, -82.1179
- Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/html
- Description:
- Encyclopedia article about the Lena Baker case. Lena Baker was the first and only woman to be executed in Georgia's electric chair. She was executed in 1945, after she was convicted of murdering a man who had imprisoned her. At the time of Baker's execution, the Georgia prison system was under scrutiny for reform. In August 2005 Baker was pardoned posthumously by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board acknowledged that the 1945 decision to deny Baker clemency was "a grievous error" and that Baker could have been charged with the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter, which would have prevented the sentence of capital punishment.
GSE identifier: SS8H10 - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/lena-baker-case/
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- If you wish to use content from the NGE site for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, you must request and receive written permission from the NGE. Such requests may be directed to: Permissions/NGE, University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: "ARTICLE TITLE," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.
- Original Collection:
- Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
- Contributing Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights:
-
