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Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

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Scottsboro Boys Research Paper
On the night of March 25, 1931, a sheriff posse in Paint Rock, Alabama stopped a freight train traveling from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They arrested nine young black men on the train. They also found two young women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, dressed in men's overalls.
Price claimed she was raped by six of the young men, while Bates claimed the other three raped her. The nine men, from Chattanooga and different parts of Georgia, ranged in age from 12 to 20. They were roped together and taken to the Jackson County Jail in Scottsboro, Alabama. That night, a mob gathered outside the jail, but the governor sent in the National Guard to protect the young men, later known as the Scottsboro Boys.
In the midst of a firestorm generated by the …show more content…
There was widespread outrage over the verdict, and Ruby Bates traveled the country with some of the Scottsboro Boys', giving speeches vindicating the young men. Then, on June 22, 1933, Judge Horton made a stunning announcement: Evidence that made clear Bate's wasn't raped on the train. Horton set aside the jury verdict and ordered a new trial. It was not until years later that he revealed why: One of the doctors who examined the women pulled Horton aside to say that he couldn't find signs a rape had occured, but was afraid to testify to it on the …show more content…
Powell was shot in the head but lived, sustaining serious brain damage. Callahan postponed the rest of the trials, pending review.
A year and a half later, the trials resumed. Clarence Norris was convicted and sentenced to death, Andy Wright got 99 years and Charlie Weems received a 75-year sentence. Watts was exhausted, as was Leibowitz.
Then, a surprise from the prosecution: they dropped Powell's rape charge, but he was convicted and given 20 years for his assault on the deputy. Immediately afterwards, the court dropped the rest of the charges against the remaining four men. Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson and Roy Wright were set free.
A huge crowd in New York greeted Leibowitz and the four free Scottsboro Boys. Alabama governor Bibb Graves commuted Norris' death sentence in 1938, but backed off on promises to release the convicted five. Between 1943 and 1950, four of the "Boys" were released on parole- leaving only Haywood Patterson in custody. In 1946, Norris violated his parole and left Alabama. In 1948, Patterson escaped and made his way to Michigan. He was caught by the FBI in 1950, but Michigan wouldn't extradrite him back to
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