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.”