scottsboro nine
.The scottsboro were nine African american teenagers accused in Alabama of raping two white women on a train in 1931.
.The cases included a lynch mob before the suspects had been indicted, rushed trials, and disruptive mobs.
.In a series of trials the youths were found guilty and sentenced to death or to prison terms of 75 to 99 years.
. In 1935 the Supreme Court again ruled in favor of the defendants by overturning the convictions on the grounds that Alabama had systematically excluded blacks from jury service.
Four of the five defendants serving prison sentences were released on parole from 1943 to 1950.