Court Cases: The Scottsboro Trial

This trial did not just impact the life of the boys it impacted the life of others, after this trial they looked at how they did all these cases. As the time went on there became more and more fair trails, less biased jury and judges. But it does still exist, racism in court many years later. But the trial from Scottsboro, Alabama with Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright all falsely accused of raping Ruby Bates and Victoria Price was a prodigious part of the way they treated trails against African

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).

It took place on March, 25, 1931 near Scottsboro, Alabama. The 9 african american boys were taken off the train for charges of assault from the whites. Then all 9 boys were accused of rape from white women Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.

In 1931 two white women were riding the train along with the other men (the blacks and whites). When the fight broke out the blacks had won and let the white men off the train, however when the white men got off the train, they reported the incident to the local sheriff and that’s when the train stopped in Scottsboro, Alabama and everyone on the train was arrested. That’s how it all started in Scottsboro, Alabama and it was just the beginning of the case. The two women on the train Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were about to be in serious trouble because Ruby Bates was a minor and in that time it was a federal crime to take a minor across state lines for the reason of prostitution. The only way they could get of trouble in their situation was to say the black men raped them. In the time of 1931 rape was sanctioned by death. Usually they would’ve responded by a lynching, which was when they hung someone who was suspected of a crime, but for this case the citizens of Scottsboro wanted to hold a trial instead. The trial wasn’t fair at all because the outcome had been decided before the trial even

The boys of the Scottsboro trials were never treated fairly from the beginning. The whole journey was filled with misconception. The journey began on the freight train, there was nine African Americans on a train car and with them, was a group of Caucasian men. It all started with one of the white males stepping on the hand of one of the blacks. Not too long after, the white males threatened the nine boys to leave the train car (Doc). After the nine black males refused their threat, a fight broke out between all of them. All of the members of the white group were thrown off the train, all, but one. The one that was left on the train went and reported the fight to the train conductor.

The Scottsboro Trials were the trials against nine young African American men who were falsely accused of the rape of two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. The men were Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, Andrew Wright, and Leroy Wright. On a freight train, March 25, 1931, a fight began between a group of people of white and black race. After the altercation the train made a stop in Scottsboro to turn some of the people involved in the fight into police custody. During this stop two prostitutes (Victoria Price and Ruby Bates) were found and were about to face prostitution charges. Several sources claim that police officials forced the women to lie and others say

In 1906, Ed Johnson was convicted after witnesses claimed he sexually assaulted white female by using a leather strap. Although Johnson provided numerous alibis about his part in the sexual assault, he was still convicted for the crime and sentenced to death by a jury of only white people. While in jail, Johnson was brutally murdered by a mob that broke in. Twenty-five years later, the Scottsboro Boys were convicted for gang rape of two white women while traveling on a train. Of the nine Scottsboro boys accused in this case, eight of them were sentenced to death. This conviction raised public awareness and was one factor that saw the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Just a few years later, three African American men, Ed Brown, Arthur Ellington and Henry Shields were all beaten and tortured into confessing for the killing of a white farmer in Mississippi. This incident became the well known Supreme Court decision titled Brown v. Mississippi (Grimsley). These were just average African American men living average lives when suddenly they are accused of crimes they did not commit. Earl Smith and Angela J. Hattery says in their journal that “many of them were at least twenty six years old when incarcerated whereas, some were sent to prison while they were still in their late teens and early 20s.” Before they were incarcerated, many of them were still getting their education and building careers and relationships. While these men were accused of their crimes based on their race, there are other factors that play a role in a wrongful conviction.

All of the boys’ trials were suspiciously speedy and did not last more than a few days. There was only one lawyer for all nine of the boys. The lawyer was not trustworthy and he was seventy-one years old. Also, there was minimal or no proof that the boys had raped the girls and there, of course, was an all white jury. In the case Powell v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the convictions because the defendant had not received a legal counsel, the trial was not fair, and there were no blacks on jury. It claimed that this case violated the 6th and 14th amendments (6th being the right to counsel in trials and the 14th is prohibiting states from denying the rights of people without Due Process of Law). This was the same for Norris v. Alabama. The convictions ruling was that the state had excluded blacks from the jury, which is a violation of the 14th amendment. Besides all of these Due Process violations, one of the girls did admit that there was no harm that occurred, and no one was raped. Although, this did not matter or change the opinion of what should happen to the Scottsboro

As the young men stood before an all white jury, six of them (Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Ozie Powell, Olen Montgomery, and Eugene Williams) refused to commit to a crime they didn't commit, while the other three admitted they did because of possible beatings other locals threatened to do. One of the most memorable parts of the trial was when Clarence Norris blatantly lied, saying ‘“They all raped her, every one of them.’” A local journalist later called the case “‘so conclusive as to be almost perfect.’” However, it was all a lie

The white kids lost the fight and then wanted revenge. To get revenge, they said that the black boys had raped two white girls ("Scottsboro,” Trial). The fight terminated after they had passed the Alabama border, when the white teenagers stepped on the hand of a black boy. As part of this revenge, they went to the station master in Stevenson with the lies that they were attacked by a gang of black teenagers who also raped two white girls. On March 31st, The Scottsboro Boys who were around 12-21 years old, got convicted of rape. “The black boys were taken to a jail in Scottsboro, Alabama, hence the name Scottsboro Boys. The arrest of the nine was the beginning of repeated trials, convictions, appeals, and more trials over the next six years” (“Scottsboro, “Trial). In other words, this means the Scottsboro black boys were guilty and taken to jail. People said they are anti-social, they are bestial, and they are unbelievably stupid.

Eight black boys have been arrested on charges of rape. Their names are Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright. The first trial has ended with the predictable verdict of guilty for the Scottsboro boys, excluding Haywood. The second trial will commence tomorrow. Apparently, the boys were “hoboing” a freight train when a group of white men attempted to drive the boys out. Hoboing is taking a free ride on a freight train without paying. The boys drove all whites out of the freight train except for two white girls and a white boy named Orville Gilley. They were stopped at Paint Rock, Alabama and were

The scottsboro boys were a group of young black boys on a train. Then they got into a fight with a couple white boys on the train and threw them off . Next two young white woman that were also riding the train said they raped them and sent the boys were sent to court. The central ideas of justice develop throughout the book by when the boys are first put on trial to when the boys are released or died.

The National Guard had to be called to protect the jail from the lynch mob. Their trials were speedy before an all Caucasian standing audience. The judge and prosecutors sped the nine trials to avoid violence. The judge had ordered the Alabama bar to assist the defendants, but only one attorney volunteered. The judge had to persuade a Chattanooga real estate lawyer to assist the attorney, although he was not familiar with Alabama law, but I agree to aid the attorney. He presented both the testimony of his clients and the case of the women.

One of the reasons that the Scottsboro Boys were innocent was because of the lack of witnesses from the scene. Throughout the four trials against the boys there were only ever two true witnesses that were from the scene. These two were Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It was the nine black mens word against the two white

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