"Ohio Refused"
John Mitchell, Jr. created this drawing to contrast two states’ commitments to “law and order.” An Ohio judge refused to release a black man accused of murder to Kentucky, for fear that the man would be lynched in transit. In the illustration, Kentucky “justice” presents extradition papers, while shielding from view the lynch mob and its work. Boldly, Ohio “justice” stands firm, holding a sword ready to protect the prisoner from the mob. “Ohio refuses to act as an agent for murderers,” the caption declared, “and rejects with scorn the plea for the delivery of the colored man into the hands of the lynchers.”