Why a Georgia church elder is making news at U.S. Supreme Court (reporting from Rome, Ga.): In a death-row murder case, all the potential black jurors — including Eddie Hood — were excluded.
ROME, Ga. — Eddie Hood chuckles when discussing his newfound celebrity status.
Hood, 75, serves as an elder for the 125-member Callahan Street Church of Christ in this northwest Georgia city of 36,000.
He worked for a paper mill for 33 years, but now he’s enjoying retirement.
“Working in the Lord’s church,” the grandfather of eight said of how he spends his time.
I showed up at Hood’s house — painted bright yellow with a U.S. flag flying by the front door — after seeing his name in national news reports.
Hood, it turns out, was as surprised as anybody when he ended up in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some background: In 1987, Hood was a potential juror for a capital murder case in which Timothy Tyrone Foster, an 18-year-old black man, was charged with killing Queen Madge White, a 79-year-old white woman.
However, prosecutors used challenges to remove all four prospective black jurors — including Hood.
This column appears in the December 2015 print edition of The Christian Chronicle.
The Ross News 