It took more than three centuries, but the last “witch” of the so-called Salem Witch Trials was officially exonerated. It happened 329 years after Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was sentenced to death for witchcraft in the British colony of Massachusetts. It is now a US state.
There was no execution in 1693, but Johnson received no compensation either. The case received new attention when a group of Massachusetts high school students took a closer look at the citizenship education issue. State Senator Diana DiZoglio then took the case and assured him that the repair would be legally settled.
Johnson became the last witch suspect to be acquitted in the Salem trials. In the 17th century, twenty men and women from the city of Salem and its environs were executed for witchcraft. Nineteen people were hanged, one man was crushed with stones. Seven people died in prison. At least 200 people were suspected.
The Lows of Justice
Johnson avoided execution because the governor overturned his sentence after it became known that there were widespread miscarriages of justice in Salem. In the three centuries that followed, dozens of suspects were acquitted posthumously. Johnson’s mother was also acquitted, but not Johnson himself. The cause is unknown, but his name was not previously on the repair lists.
“Elizabeth’s story and struggles are still very much alive,” said Senator DiZoglio. “We’ve come a long way from the horrors of witch trials, but women’s rights are too often thwarted.”
Source: NOS
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