Article Review : Sovereignty Commission File

In Scottsboro, Alabama, March 9, 1931 nine African american boys, Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright were incriminated of rapeing two white women on the subway. As they were accused of raping Ruby Bates and Victoria Price they were put on trial. This trail was long and unfair.

April 6, 1931, the trials for the Scottsboro boys begin(Uschan 16). The boys were represented by Milo C. Moody and Stephen Roddy who were only given twelve days to prepare for the trials. Stephen was and unpaid, unprepared real estate attorney, and Milo was a forgetful seventy year old local attorney who hadn’t tried a case in a long time (“San Marcos” line 13). The trails were completely unorganized and false information was stated throughout the whole thing. The cross examination of Victoria Price lasted minutes and the defense offered very little information to the judge. Six out of the nine boys ended up denying the rape while 3 admitted to it. Even though the three men didn’t rape the women, because of beatings and threats, they admitted to the gang rape. By the time the trail had ended 8 out of the 9 boys were convicted and sentenced to death. Since one of the Scottsboro boys was only thirteen, he was considered too young to be tried as an adult (“UMKC” par. 6-7).

Whenever I hear about discrimination, prejudice or stereotypes, as they relate to race, ethnicity and you name it, my system aches. Being inhumane and lack respect for your fellow brothers or sisters, regardless of color, speaks volume and causes unsettling issues in our society today. In this assignment, my mission is to share an historic event that took place in Martinsville, VA back in 1949. This case includes rape and a racially motivated justice system, that leads to racial discrimination; ultimately, led to the execution of seven. This case garnered international recognition and eventually left an indelible scar on the world. With numerous evidence of racial discrimination, I have put together a compelling argument which establishes

On March 31, 1931 nine boys by the names of; Charles Weems, Clarence Norris, Ozie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Andy Wright and youngest of them all, Roy Wright rode a train heading toward Alabama, they got into a fight with a group of white men that allegedly lead them to push the white men off of the train (An American Tragedy). The train stopped at a small town where an angry mob was waiting to find a group of troubled black men. As they got off the train, two young white women by the names of; Ruby Bates and Victoria Price claimed, “these boys raped us" (An American Tragedy). The public

In 1930’s Maycomb Alabama, a young woman is stirring up a sleepy town by accusing an African American man of rape. Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman has wrongly accused Tom Robinson of sexually assaulting her in her own home. Her testimony, as well as her fathers’, have gaping holes in them. Their stories do not coincide, and it is even implied that Mayella’s father may have been sexually abusing her.(DBQ Mayella page 15 Chapters 18 and 20) The lack of sufficient evidence and Tom Robinson’s claim that Mayella had made advances toward him should have been enough for the jury to find Tom not guilty, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the jury believed Mayella’s deceitful testimony, and Tom was sent to jail, which ultimately led to his death. Mayella used her position in society to manipulate the court, and dispose of the only evidence of her mistake. Mayella Ewell is powerful as defined by class, gender, and especially race.

b) ‘It is generally thought that the Negroes got what would have been due them under process of law. (page 8)

According to American history, prejudice is shown through the courtroom’s jury when making decisions to send the alleged African Americans to jail. On March 24, 1931, nine African American lives were jeopardized with the false accusations of rape that further scrutinizes the nation’s controversial look upon justice. Referring to Abigail Thernson and Henry Fetter when talking about The Scottsboro Trials it states, “Represented by unprepared out of date counsel who had no more than a half an hour consult

The Scottsboro Trials of Alabama, started in 1931. Nine African American boys were accused of raping two girls on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama.(A Tragedy of the American South) A fight broke out between white and black groups of youths. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates accused the boys of rape.(A Tragedy of the American South) Instead of the two girls getting charged with vagrancy and prostitution, they blamed the black boys of raping them..(A Tragedy of the American South) Rape was a politically explosive charge in the south.(A Tragedy of the American South) The case went to the US Supreme court in 1937, where Clarence Norris called the girls liars and was then struck by a bayonet.(A Tragedy of the American South) After going to court the boys spent two years between their first trials and second round. (Tragedy of the American South) One

In the article “Alabama Pardons 3 ‘Scottsboro Boys’ After 80 Years” (November 21, 2013), Alan Blinder argues the significance, to the modern world, of the pardons issued recently to three black men falsely accused of sexual assault in a long series of trials that has become known as the “Scottsboro Boys”. Blinder supports his reasoning by describing the history of the lawsuit and the efforts put into the posthumous pardons. For instance, he presents evidence of the impact the case had on the legal system: “ [State Senator Arthur Orr] and other legislators agreed to sponsor a measure [...] that created a process by which the Alabama authorities could issue pardons in select

During the early nineteen hundreds many people especially in the south were often convicted of crimes for no other reason than their skin color and contrary to many ideas about our court system, we have not always been the most honest and unbiased people. One prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence in the case clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence helps to prove that Charles Weems and the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused and convicted.

Two drunken white men raped a young black girl, Tonya Hailey, who was walking from a small store where she bought groceries. When the news reached her father, Carl Lee Hailey, he went to their hearing, where he shot and killed the two men, while also wounding a police officer. Carl Lee hires a white attorney, Jake Brigance, to represent him in court. Many people and organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, tried to sabotage Brigance’s likelihood of winning the case. With the help of a liberal law student, Brigance successfully acquitted Carl Lee Hailey for the murders of the two rapists.

This story is set in the year 1930, in Maycomb County, Alabama, and even though racism was abolished, the people still believed that colored people were bad people. Without racism still existing then, many things wouldn’t have happened. Since there was racism, a man was accused to be guilty for a crime he didn’t commit because he was black. Which allowed the actual guilty and dangerous person out on the loose, which gave him the chance to try to kill two kids. But without racism, the the guilty man would be put in jail and the whole story would be over.

the prisoners were lucky enough to escape the being lynched when they were moved into Scottsboro. In this trial, nine young, black boys were charged with the rape of two white girls while on a train. This case was a major source of controversy in the 1930’s. “Despite testimony by doctors who had examined the women that no rape had occurred, the all- white jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old were sentenced to death” (“Scottsboro”). The boys’ lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, did not even get assigned to the case until the first day of the trial. “If he could show a jury that these nine boys were innocent, as the record indicated, the jury would surely free them. To Leibowitz, that was simple!” (Chalmers 35). However, it was not that simple. Many white citizens would not change their minds about

The Supreme court once handled a criminal trial? Today, the mere mention of lynching evokes negative reactions from people, but in the past not so much. If you were a person of color, you feared lynching because laws were either not enforced or did not exist to protect you from that disgusting method of death. I want to examine the history of the court case, United States v. Shipp (1906), to give one account of the American legal process eked a victory for African-Americans. The Supreme Court case is notable because the legal process brought few victories for Blacks in the late/early 20th century America. For example, the thought of a Black man causing harm to a white woman was fatally unforgivable and some were lynched by the public, regardless of their innocence. In the case of Ed Johnson of Tennessee, he met that same fate; his sixth amendment rights were violated in the process. He was a citizen of the United States, and guaranteed the same rights as anyone else living in the country.

In the year 1931, all nine of the Scottsboro boys Haywood Patterson, Charles Weems, Clarence Norris, Andy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, and Roy Wright are arrested and tried on charges of assault from fighting white boys on a train. Along with accusations made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates that the boys raped them. Their trial begins April 6, 1931. All of the boys except for Roy Wright are tired and convicted, with the result of the death sentence, Roy Wright’s trial ends in a mistrial. Later the NAACP and International Labor Defense, fight to represent the boys. Even though there was no proof that the boys committed these crimes they