One day, the boys were riding a train. Some white teenagers, who were also on the train, accused the Scottsborro boys of beating them and kicking them off of the train. When the police arrived to investigate, 2 white girls riding on the train accused the boys of raping them. Some of the Scottsboro boys admitted to fighting with the white boys. Contrarily, there lacked evidence that the boys had raped the 2 girls. Medical evidence suggested no rapes had taken place. Despite evidence that no rapes had occurred, all 9 boys were incarcerated. In fact all of the boys except for the youngest (a 12 year old named Roy Wright) were convicted of rape and sentenced to death. The case was appealed. The Scottsboro boys endured 4 trials that spanned a decade. During the trials, the boys were denied impartial juries, appropriate legal counsel, fair trails, and fair sentencing. Following the first trial, Samuel Leibowitz (who was a well known lawyer) defended the boys. Four of the 9 boys were freed after enduring 6 years in prison. Eventually, all of the boys except for 1 were …show more content…
The trials were well publicized. The majority of the world, in fact, heard about the trials through the radio or through newspapers. Many people were angered because they didn't think the Scottsboro boys had a fair trial. It seemed obvious that racism was involved in the decisions of the trials. For instance, the first three trials involved juries made entirely of white people. No colored people were ever on the jury even though that violated the Fourteenth Amendment. During the fourth trial, the boys' lawyer made sure the jury was composed of people of both races. That trial had the most success and 4 of the boys got out. The rest remained in jail and got out later.
In addition to the instances of racism, the northern and southern states felt contention against each other. The southern states felt like they were judged by the northern states. The south thought the north should stay out of their business and out of the trial. Every time there was a new trial, Alabama got angrier and became even more reluctant to let the boys out of jail. The trials also rekindled resentment from the civil