Scottsboro Boys Trials
Lynzee Yadon
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What were the trials? Were the crimes truly commited?
The "Scottsboro Boys" were on trial for the alleged rape of Ruby Bates & Victoria Price, two white women. I personally don't believe that the crimes were committed due to many things I have read. One thing that really stood out was that Ruby Bates openly denied that she or Victoria Price had ever been raped during the second trial. As Claudia Johnson wrote in his article Historical Context: The Scottsboro Trials,"Testimony was also given by one of the women, Ruby Bates, who now openly denied that she or her friend, Victoria Price, had ever been raped."
Alabama's Reactions to the Trials
At first the boys were first assigned 2 attorneys that "were no "Dream Team". After 8 out of 9 of the boys were found guilty & sentenced to death the Communist Party became involved through their legal branch the International Labor Defense. So the boys were tried again & the convictions and death sentences were affirmed. The US Supreme Court then overturned the convictions due to a competent legal counsel being denied in Alabama. Many African Americans were unhappy about the racism found in the jury.
Similarities and Differences to Tom Robinson's Trial
Similarities- Both trials were in Alabama, were concerning alleged rape of white women by black men, and occurred in the 1930's. In both trials defendants were found guilty even though they were truly not as said in To Kill a Mockingbird,"Judge Taylor was polling the jury:"Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty'" Differences- The Scottsboro Trials were about 9 African American men raping 2 white women while the TKAM trial was about a single African American man raping a white woman. The Scottsbro trials went all the way to the Supreme Court, Tom's trial stayed in Alabama.