Scottsboro Trial Research Paper

The concept of racial injustice has been debated throughout American history; it has been especially evident in America’s legal system. No matter the decade, African-Americans have continually been wrongfully convicted for crimes they never committed. From Brown versus Mississippi (1934) to the case of Brian Banks (2002), one stands out amongst the others: the Scottsboro Trial. This case can be considered the epitome of injustice as the role of racism in the trial was extremely evident in the fact many of the boys’ rights were taken away and crucial evidence was ignored by jurors. The trial began in 1931, when nine unemployed black boys (Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene …show more content…
The Sixth Amendment states that defendants have the “right to a public trial, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges against you.” Three out of four of these rights of the boys were taken away. For example, the boys did not have the right to a public trial. This is because no African-Americans were allowed in the courtroom. Instead, the courtroom was white-washed. Haywood Patterson, one of the defendants, even described the scene as “one big smiling white face.” If the boys did have their right to a public trial honored then African-Americans would have been allowed in the courtroom. Their right to a lawyer was also compromised. Rather than giving the boys an experienced defense attorney, the court supplied a Tennessee real estate lawyer that was unfamiliar with the courts of Alabama. Due to this, the court essentially doomed the defendants from the beginning as they would never be able to erect a solid defense case with a lawyer that was both unfamiliar with defense law and Alabama law. Finally, their right to the Sixth Amendment was undermined due to the fact that the court did not provide an impartial jury. An impartial jury is defined as a representative of the community and can not intentionally exclude distinct groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, and …show more content…
The first decision was made in Patterson versus Alabama regarding the inclusion of African-Americans on juries. The Supreme Court determined that “the defendants, who were negroes, were deprived of constitutional rights by intentional exclusion of all negroes from the grand and petit juries. In one of the cases, this defense was by that court overruled; in the other, it was not considered because the bill of exceptions, necessary for its presentation, was held to have been filed too late.” This means that the Supreme Court overturned Patterson’s convictions on the grounds that his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not upheld as African-Americans and other minorities were purposefully excluded from the jury. The decision overall prohibited exclusion of jurors based on race. The second decision, also made in Powell versus Alabama regarded adequate legal representation. The court determined that everyone has the right “to have the aid of counsel for his defense, which includes the right to have sufficient time to advise with counsel and to prepare a defense, is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” This means that the Supreme Court also overturned Patterson’s convictions on the grounds that not only did he