The Scottsboro Trials--History Informing Literature C. Passantino-Mitchell, Ph.D. Lincoln High School English 3/4 Accelerated
Why the Scottsboro Trials? ! Only trial in the history of the American legal system
which produced so many trials, convictions,reversals and retrials.
! Took place over 20 years. ! The defendants, called the Scottsboro Boys, grew from
adolescence to adulthood during the trial.
! Results: Opened Southern juries to blacks, aggravated
sectional tensions, and divided the American political left.
Who were the “Scottsboro Boys”? ! Haywood Patterson ! Clarence Norris ! Andy Wright ! Charlie Weems ! Ozie Powell ! Willie Roberson ! Olen Montgomery ! Eugene Williams ! Roy Wright
The Incident !
24 young black and white males and females rode the Southern Railroad freight from Chattanooga to Memphis on March 25, 1931.
!
Of these 24, there were 2 white males and 2 white females traveling together.
!
On the return trip to Chattanooga, a white youth stepped on the hand of Haywood Patterson, a young black man who was haning on to the side of a tank car.
!
A fight ensued and resulted in all but one white youth jumping off the train.
!
Orville Gilley was pulled back onto the train by Haywood Patterson after it began accelerating.
After the Fight ! The white youths who had jumped off the train
reported the incident to the stationmaster in Stevenson. ! The stationmaster alerted the sheriff’s office in Paint
Rock, Alabama, and a posse was formed. ! The train was stopped and every black youth was
arrested and taken to jail in Scottsboro.
Victoria and Ruby ! Victoria Price (21) and
Ruby Bates (17), the two white females on the train accused the black youths of rape.
And the law said……. !
March 25, 1931--Victoria Price identifies 6 of the youths as those who raped her.
!
A sheriff’s deputy said, “If those six raped Ms. Price, it stands to reason that the others raped Miss Bates.”
!
Ruby Bates did not identify any of the youths as having attacked her.
The first Scottsboro Trial--April 6, 1931 ! Judge A.E. Hawkins presiding ! Patterson: “one big smiling white face” ! Local papers: “All Negroes positively identified by
girls and one white boy who was held prisoner with pistol and knives while nine black fiends committed revolting crime.” ! Defending attorneys: Stephen Roddy and Milo Moody
The Incompetence of the Defense ! All 9 tried together,
including Roy Wright (age 12) ! Cross-examination of
Victoria Price ony lasted minutes ! Doctor’s evidence not
cross-examined
! Ruby Bates not asked about
contradictions in testimony ! Only defense witnesses were
defendants ! No closing argument was
given
The Prosecution ! “so conclusive as to be almost perfect”
The Verdict ! Announced while second
trial was being held ! Crowd outside courthouse
roared their approval ! 8 of the 9 were convicted
and sentenced to death
The NAACP and the ILD ! NAACP ! Concerned about defending the “Scottsboro Boys” because of the political fall out assoiated with a rape trial ! Worried some of the
youths were guilty
! International Labor
Defense (ILD)--the legal arm of the American Communist Party ! Great recruiting tool in
the black community ! Successful named as defense for the “boys”
What happened to the “boys” during the 2-year hiatus? ! Held in prison in Decatur ! At Kilby prison were on death row ! “Scared little mice, caught in a trap” ! Moved back to Decatur prior to trial
Meanwhile…the lawyers… ! Prosecution: Thomas Knight, son of the Alabama
Supreme court judge who had upheld the 1931 verdict ! Defense: Samuel Liebowitz, a New York criminal
attorney working for the ILD. 77 acquittals out of 78 trials. Considered to be the “next Clarence Darrow”
The first appeal and overturn ! January 1932--Alabama Supreme Court upheld the
conviction (1931)
! US Supreme Court overturned convictions--Powell v.
Alabama, 7-2.
! Ruled that the right of the defendants to due process
under the 14th Amendment had been denied.
! Ruled for a new trial.
Witnesses ! Victoria Price ! Lied about Brochie boardinghouse ! Reputation for “traveling” with single men ! No physical evidence of attack
Dr. Bridges ! No physical evidence of
attack
! Arthur Woodall ! One of defendants had a knife he had taken from Victoria Price ! Ory Dobbins ! Farmer unable to see train from distance. Identified Victoria Price as wearing a dress.
The defense calls…. ! Dallas Ramsay-Saw Price in
hobo jungle ! George Chamlee--no
Brochie boardinghouse ! Ozie Powell--bewildered;
had only spent 3 months in school
! Haywood Patterson: “I
was framed in Scottsboro.” ! Ruby Bates: No rape or
attack. Price had told her to “frame a story”
Alabama and Anti-semitism ! Wade Wright, assistant
prosecutor asked the jury, “whether justice in this case is going to be bought and sold with Jew money?” ! Liebowitz’s motion for a
mistrial is overruled.
The Verdict ! Haywood Patterson was found guilty and sentenced to
death.
Judge Horton’s Gambit ! June 22, 1933 convened
hearing on defense motion for a new trial ! Convinced Price was lying ! Met with Dr. Lynch
regarding medical evidence ! Horton loses re-election to
judgeship
The Third Scottsboro Trial ! November 1933--Haywood
Patterson’s 3rd trial ! Judge William Callahan
presiding ! Sought to “debunk” the
Scottsboro cases
3-day wonder ! Trial limited to 3 days ! Defense forbidden to investigate Price’s character ! Orville Gilley star of trial--Gilley was receiving
monetary support from the prosecutor, Knight ! Guilty verdicts carrying death sentences were returned
Supreme Court Rulings ! March 25, 1935 ! Reversed Patterson and Norris convictions ! Alabama system of jury selection was unconstitutional ! Scottsboro defendants remain in jail
Tampering with the defense ! ILD lawyers in Nashville were arrested ! Liebowitz was replaced by Charles Watts, but remained
on in an advisory capacity
The Shooting of Ozie Powell ! Allegedly used a knife in an
attempted “escape” ! Shot in the head ! Permanent brain damage
The Fourth Trial ! 6 of the 9 defendants had
been in jail for 6 years without a trial
! Norris tried and sentenced
to death
! Andy Wright received a 99
year sentence
! Ozie Powell had the rape
charge dropped, but was tried for assaulting a deputy
! Charges were dropped
against the remaining 4 defendants: Willie Roberson, Oen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright
The Final Years ! Charles Weems paroled in
1943 ! Ozie Powell and Clarence
Norrice paroled in 1946 ! Andy Wright left Alabama
in 1950
! Haywood Patterson escaped
in 1948 to Michigan from which extradition was denied. ! Patterson wrote a book,
Scottsboro Boy (1950) ! Clarence Norris rote a
book, The Last of the Scottsboro Boys (1979) and died in 1989.
“The banality of evil” Hannah Arendt ! “Evil rarely comes in the
form of monsters, but rather in the form of relatively normal people who, for reasons of careers, ideology, or a desire for society’s approval, are indifferent to the human consequences of their actions.”