On March 25, 1931, With the Great Depression gripping the nation after the stock-market crash of 1929, people hopped freight trains to travel from one city to the next in search of work. A group of whites and a group of blacks who are ages 13 to 19 and are later called ‘Scottsboro boys’ got in a fight on a train. The scottsboro boys were defending themselves and they kicked the white group off in Jackson County. Then, two women on the train, who were trying to avoid arrest, falsely accused nine black youths of raping them so the Scottsboro boys are arrested and assault and rape charges are added against all nine boys after accusations are made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It was an inflammatory allegation in the Jim-Crow South, where
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The large crowd outside the courthouse let out a roar of approval that was clearly heard by the second jury inside. When the four trials were over, eight of the nine Scottsboro Boys had been convicted and sentenced to death. A mistrial was declared in the case of twelve-year old Roy Wright, when eleven of the jurors held out for death despite the request of the prosecution for only a life sentence in view of his tender age. On January 5, 1932 Ruby Bates, in a letter to a Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped. In March, 1932 Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirms the convictions of seven of the boys. The conviction of Eugene Williams is reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state law in 1931+. In May of 1932 The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases. In November, 1932 The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in Powell vs. Alabama. Grounds for reversal are that Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.The prosecutor in the retrials was
The large crowd outside the courthouse let out a roar of approval that was clearly heard by the second jury inside. When the four trials were over, eight of the nine Scottsboro Boys had been convicted and sentenced to death. A mistrial was declared in the case of twelve-year old Roy Wright, when eleven of the jurors held out for death despite the request of the prosecution for only a life sentence in view of his tender age. On January 5, 1932 Ruby Bates, in a letter to a Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped. In March, 1932 Alabama Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1, affirms the convictions of seven of the boys. The conviction of Eugene Williams is reversed on the grounds that he was a juvenile under state law in 1931+. In May of 1932 The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases. In November, 1932 The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, reverses the convictions of the Scottsboro boys in Powell vs. Alabama. Grounds for reversal are that Alabama failed to provide adequate assistance of counsel as required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.The prosecutor in the retrials was