Which judge later publicly apologized for his role in the trials?

Judge Samuel Sewall later publicly apologized for his role in the Salem witch trials. On January 14, 1697, he asked that a public day of prayer, fasting, and repentance be observed because he believed he had participated in condemning innocent people.

Sewall had been one of the nine judges appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692. The court heard cases against people accused of witchcraft and accepted evidence that included spectral testimony—claims that a defendant’s invisible spirit had attacked or tormented someone. Nineteen people were hanged, and Giles Corey died under pressing.

Unlike several other judges, Sewall openly expressed remorse. During the public service, his minister read a statement in which Sewall acknowledged his error and stood while it was read. He continued to regard the trials as a serious moral failing for the rest of his life.

Sewall’s apology did not immediately undo the convictions or restore the victims’ reputations. Massachusetts later passed measures clearing some of those convicted, with further exonerations continuing centuries afterward. The other judges in the answer choices—Jonathan Corwin, William Stoughton, and John Hathorne—did not become known for a comparable public apology.