Kennon C. Whittle

Kennon Caithness Whittle (October 12, 1891 – November 10, 1967) was a Virginia lawyer and judge who served as president of the Virginia Bar Association and was elected to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Biography Whittle was born in Martinsville, Virginia, the son of Stafford G. Whittle, a lawyer who served on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals from 1901 to 1919. Kennon Whittle attended elementary school in Martinsville and received an LL. B. from Washington and Lee University in 1914. Following his graduation Whittle was admitted to the bar and began practice in Martinsville. Whittle was president of The Virginia Bar Association for 1940–41. In 1944, he was appointed judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit and, in 1951, was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served on the Supreme Court until he retired on February 1, 1965. He received an honorary LL. D. from Washington and Lee in 1950 and he was a member of Phi Delta Phi. Judge Whittle drew controversy when he oversaw the trial of the "Martinsville Seven," a group of seven black men accused of raping a white woman in January 1949. Ruby Floyd had accused the seven men of raping her. Subsequently, all seven were arrested, and confessed both after arrest and in their trials; their guilt was never in question. In short order, the seven men were found guilty and were sentenced to death—the sentence under Virginia law at the time.