Florida lawmakers advance bill to compensate Groveland Four descendants

More than 70 years later, Florida considers compensation for families of the Groveland Four

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By James Tutten

GROVELAND, Fla. — A state senator from Orlando is pushing a significant bill that would compensate the descendants of the Groveland Four - four men who were falsely accused of raping a woman in Lake County in 1949.

Samuel Shepherd, Walter Irvin, Charles Greenlee, and Ernest Thomas were posthumously pardoned by the state of Florida in 2019.

And two years later, Rep. Geraldine Thompson successfully pushed to have them fully exonerated.

A Florida Senate committee unanimously advanced a bill on Tuesday that would provide compensation to their descendants.

Rep. Rashon Young has filed a bill in the Florida House that is also on the move.

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