Scottsboro Boys

The case of the Scottsboro Boys arose in Alabama during the 1930s, when nine black teenagers, none older than nineteen, were accused of raping two white women on a train. The defendants were sentenced to death, despite the fact that one of the women later denied being raped. They were all eventually paroled, freed or pardoned, some after serving years of a prison sentence.

Table of contents

1 The beginnings 2 The U.S. Supreme Court 3 The end of the case 4 External link

The beginnings

On March 25, 1931, a skirmish between black and white men broke out on a Southern Railroad freight train. When the train stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama, the nine blacks were arrested on charges of assault. Two women dressed in boys clothing, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, were found hiding on the freight train as well. They were all taken to Scottsboro, Alabama, the Jackson County seat. The two women agreed to testify against the boys on a rape charge.

After a lynch mob gathered, the Alabama Governor, Benjamin Meeks Mille, was forced to call the National Guard to protect the jail. On March 30th, the Scottsboro Boys were indicted by a grand jury and in April all were convicted and sentenced to death. In April, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the International Labor Defense both took up the case, but the NAACP dropped the case in January, 1932. Despite the fact that a letter surfaced in which Ruby Bates denied that she was raped, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the convictions of seven of the Boys in March, 1932.

The U.S. Supreme Court

On November 7, 1932, in Powell v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied the right to counsel, which violated their right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. On April 1, 1935, in Norris v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the exclusion of black jurors violated the Boys' Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The end of the case

In July, 1937, Clarence Norris was convicted of rape and sentenced to death, Andy Wright was convicted of rape and sentenced to 99 years, and Charlie Weems was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Ozzie Powell pleaded guilty to assaulting the sheriff and was sentenced to 20 years. In addition, four of the boys, Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery and Willie Roberson, were released after all charges against them were dropped. Later, Alabama Governor Bibb Graves reduced Clarence Norris' death sentence to life in prison. Norris was later pardoned. All of the Scottsboro Boys were eventually paroled, freed or pardoned.

External link

Biographies of Key Figures in "The Scottsboro Boys" Trials