Clarence Norris Is Not Guilty Of Rape

How would you feel if you if you were wrongly accused of a crime because a trait that you were born with? This was the situation during the Scottsboro Case. On March 25, 1931, nine African-American teenagers, including 19 year old Clarence Norris, were hoboing on a freight train from Chattanooga, Tennessee to look for work. The teenagers were taken off the train near Scottsboro, Alabama by local deputies and were accused of raping two white women Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It is clear that Clarence Norris is not guilty of the rape of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates and he should be released. Obviously, Norris is guilty of hoboing but not rape or assault. Clarence Norris boarded the train alone and knew none of the other Scottsboro Boys (PBS, “Norris”). It is very unlikely that Norris would have raped the two women with eight other boys that he had never met before. In most cases of gang rape, the rapists are associated with each other in some way (citation needed). It is extremely unlikely that Norris raped the women without any connections to any of the other boys or the women. …show more content…
According to Dr. R.R. Bridges, there was no evidence of struggle on either woman (Linder, “Bridges”). In most cases of rape, there is some evidence of a struggle such as bruises or cuts (needs citation). If the two women were raped one would expect some injuries especially since there were nine suspects. The only piece of evidence that did point towards rape was dead semen cells that were found on the women (Linder, “Bridges”). This can be explained by the fact that the women were known prostitutes and admittedly had sexual intercourse two nights before the alleged rape (PBS, “Victoria Price”). There is simply not enough evidence to prove that the women were