Comparison Between The Scottsboro Boys And Ed Johnson

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to Abigail Thernson and Henry Fetter when talking about The Scottsboro Trials it states, “Represented by unprepared out of date counsel who had no more than a half an hour consult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 Boys case took place at the Scottsboro, Alabama town on March 25, 1931. This case had involved a group of black adolescents who, after such situation was best known as the Scottsboro boys. To be specific, these boys who were involved in this case were Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Charlie Weems, Willie Robertson, Haywood Patterson, and Ozzie Powell. These guys were unfairly judged to have raped two white girls. While these teenagers were falsely accused of a crime that had never met, the case had become one of the most controversial, and complex instance in the United States history.

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

Charles Weems, Andy Wright, Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, Roy Wright, Ozie Powell, and Olen Montgomery, aged 13 to 19 years old, boarded a train from Chattanooga, Alabama to Memphis, Tennessee in hopes of finding work. While on the train ride, they were harassed by whites, and eventually pushed the men off. When the train made a stop in Paint Rock, Alabama on March 25, 1931, two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, convicted the nine boys of rape. They made claims that the boys held them down and raped them.

During the Scottsboro Boys Trial, nine african american boys were accused of raping two white women.(The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) They had four trials for the case and for the first trial they spent two years in jail.( The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) Local newspapers were making accusations about the Scottsboro Boys before the trial started.( The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account )While they were in jail, they would only be released from their cell once or twice a week.(The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys”: An Account) The nine Scottsboro Boys were pending an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court but while that was going on, the girls admitted that they were not raped by the Scottsboro boys.(The Scottsboro Case: A Timeline) By the time this trial was coming to an end, the all of the Scottsboro boys passed away.(The Scottsboro Case: A

One of the events which sparked massive discussions of racial inequality across America was the famous trial of the Scottsboro boys, nine African American boys who were the victims of a false accusation of the rape of two white girls. The alleged rapes occurred on March 25th, 1931. Due to the Great Depression, “hoboing” or riding freight trains free was common at the time, and the train’s passengers - two white girls, four white boys, and nine black boys who did not know each other - were all illegally onboard. Around halfway through the train’s journey through southern Alabama, a fight erupted between the white boys and the black boys, resulting in the black boys forcing all but one of the white boys off the train - Haywood Patterson, one of the soon-to-be infamous Scottsboro boys, pulled Orville Gilley, the white boy, back onto the train when he realised

Law enforcement in today’s time is known for discrimination and brutality. However, there are times when the police are known to even wrongfully arrest, try, and convict those who have not committed any crimes. Even though law enforcement and the legal system may seem like a secure and infallible entity/force, those that serve the justice system are not always serving justice. The case of Sean K. Ellis is a case of mistaken arrest. Ellis was arrested for the murder of a Boston police officer, convicted, and approximately served 22 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. The topics of racial bias, credibility of witnesses, exclusion/lack of evidence, and police corruption, are the some of the factors that affected Ellis’s case.

who were accused of raping 2 white women. In March of 1931 a number of people were traveling on a freight train across Tennessee. A few white teenagers hopped off the train and reported that they had been attacked by a group of African-Americans. Two women claimed that the attackers had raped them. The Scottsboro Boys were taken off the train and arrested in Paint Rock, Alabama.

“Wrongful convictions happen every week in every state in this country. And they happen for all the same reasons. Sloppy police work. Eyewitness identification is the most- is the worst type almost. Because it is wrong about half the time. Think about that.” (Grisham). Wrongful convictions can happen to anyone, at anytime. Grisham implies wrongful convictions happen for the same reasons, careless police work as well as eyewitness identification. An eyewitness identification is a crucial aspect in detective work because it essentially locates the person at the crime scene. This is the worst cause of wrongful convictions because it is wrong half the time.

237). Race is looked at with these wrongful convictions. Of 350 high cases that was viewed about 40% of them involved African Americans that were wrongfully accused (Gabbidon & Greene, 2013). Misconduct from police and prosecutors is if they did not do their job correctly such as if they are racist which causes them not to do their job. The interrogations done by police of the accused should be taped to make sure things are done by the books(Gabbidon & Greene, 2012, ch7 ppt). Legal counsel should also be there when identification take place. When DNA came about it help release people that was wrongful convicted based on eyewitness error or mistaken identity and etc. There has been unequal numbers of African American and Hispanics that have been wrongly convicted. To help with mistaken identification and eyewitness error, Huff made a statement that qualified expert witnesses need to use to help with this issue (Gabbidon & Greene, 2012, ch7 ppt). There should be innocence commissions to handle these types of situation that could and have happen in

The Scottsboro boys were African American teenager that was 'falsely' accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. March 25th, 1931, a lot of people was hoboing on a freight train traveling between Chattanooga in Memphis, Tennessee. A fight began between the Caucasian and African American groups near Lookout Mountain tunnel. Several Caucasian teenagers jumped off the train and reported to the sheriff's that they had been attacked by a group of African American teenagers. At Paint Rock Alabama, the sheriff's stopped and searched the train, arresting the African American teenagers for assault. They also found two young Caucasian women who had accused the teens of rape. A doctor was called and soon examined the women for evidence of rape and for samples of semen. The nine African American teens ranging from ages 13-19 were charged with assault and rape.

The Scottsboro Boys Trial was a huge case against nine African American men who between the ages 13-19 were accused for sexually assaulting two caucasian women on a train they were falsely and wrongly accused. This case started in 1931 on a train near Paint Rock, Alabama. Eight of the nine young men were convicted and sentenced to death the ninth was sentenced to life in prison. These young men should not have been mistreated while being held and tried without evidence based on their race and sentenced to death without fair trial.

The most common factors that lead to wrongful convictions in the United States are mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions, tunnel vision, perjured informant testimony, forensic error, prosecutorial error, or inadequate defense representation. (SITE). These factors are thought to have a huge impact on wrongful convictions, but recent studies found out

It had been noted in the Scottsboro Boys Museum & Cultural Center that all of the jurors were white men. After several years and a series of defense appeals it had kept the case alive. Rallies and parades around the world were formed by citizens including a group of whites in Alabama. With media reports publicizing the legal proceedings, including the second U.S. Supreme Court hearing that was trying to get these men released it was reported that all eyes from the nation and the world were on Alabama. A second grand jury later would later indict seven of the remaining young men still leaving one in prison. Each of them had spent at least six years in prison and some many more. The 13-year-old had been released early on due to a mistrial. The finally black man, Andrew Wright was released from prison in 1950. The Scottsboro case is a lot like the case in the story To Kill A Mockingbird. Both scenarios are involving cases of white women who cry rape to protect themselves.

Innocent until proven guilty is one of the basic tenants of the American criminal justice system. Historically, this principal has not applied to everyone, with slave owners having complete authority over their slaves. Certainly this has evolved greatly over the last 150 years, and today criminal rights theoretically apply equally to all American citizens. In the legal system today, everything from arrest requirements to sentencing mandates are created to be applied consistently across all citizens. However, throughout the entire criminal justice process, from arrest to sentencing, there are apparent disparities in the application of criminal rights across individuals of different racial backgrounds.