FL H8007

Acknowledges that Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd, and Ernest Thomas (the "Groveland Four") were victims of gross injustices in a 1949 rape case in Lake County where they were convicted despite lack of physical evidence and established alibis.

Formally exonerates all four men and offers a legislative apology to them and their families for wrongful convictions, coerced confessions, police brutality, and racial hatred that fueled their persecution.

Urges the Governor and Cabinet to grant pardons to Walter Irvin and Charles Greenlee, the two surviving members whose sentences were commuted or served but who were never fully vindicated.

Documents the broader injustices including Ernest Thomas's death at the hands of a deputized posse, Samuel Shepherd's murder by law enforcement during a retrial transport, and the connection to the 1951 bombing death of NAACP leader Harry T. Moore and his wife who had advocated for the four men.

Directs copies of the resolution be provided to the Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture, and the families of the Groveland Four.