The Scottsboro Trial's Effect on Black Freedom

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the Scottsboro Boy's Trials that took place in the United States in the 1930s. The paper looks at how the events surrounding the trials created a media frenzy and how that in turn initiated a turning point in the struggle for black civil rights. The paper discusses the unprecedented public support, the homogenized Black community and legal reform that resulted from the trials.

From the Paper:

"The Scottsboro Case was also a success in terms of legal reform. Not only did Judge Horton decide that the evidence was not credible and therefore the boys had been convicted against the weight of the evidence, and that Ms. Price was falsely accusing the boys but the Supreme Court also found verdicts in support of the boys. On April 1, 1935 the Supreme Court declared that Alabama had unlawfully excluded African Americans from its juries and required Alabama to overturn the Scottsboro convictions. The Supreme Court found that the defendant was denied equal protection of the laws by virtue of discrimination against Negroes in jury selection in the state of Alabama. In regards to the Scottsboro cases, the Supreme Court found that legal protection, found in the 14th Amendment, from discrimination had fallen short for the boys. The Supreme Court's decisions about the Scottsboro trials brought about a more active judiciary ready to use the constitution to protect its citizens, especially African Americans. The Supreme Court's decision in Norris v Alabama was ground breaking. It signaled for the first time in a long time the courts willingness to insist upon equality for everyone."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Constitutional Law: Systematic Exclusion of Negroes from Jury Lists. Equal Protection. The Scottsboro Case." Columbia Law Review. 35 (May 1935): 776-8.
• Lawson, John Howard. A Southern Welcome. New York: National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, 1934.
• "Leibowitz in Harlem Stirs 4,000 by Plea: Promises to "Fight with Every Drop of Blood" in the Scottsboro Case.," New York Times, 14 April 1933, p.5.
• North, Joseph. Lynching Negro Children in Southern Courts. New York: International Labor Defense, Pamphlet #4, 1931.
• Patterson, Haywood. Scottsboro Boy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1950.

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