Scottsboro Trial

By:Courtney Curtis

Sam HooverHolly Mindemann

• Nine African-American and many white boys had a brawl with each other during a train ride in Alabama.

• According to the white boys, The Nine African-American boys (13-21 years of age) allegedly raped two white women,

• They were granted inadequate lawyers and had an all white jury during their trials.

• They claimed the jury was biased against them because of the racial differences

• Regardless of these claims, officials from Alabama refused to drop the cases

• Eight were sentenced to death, while the thirteen year old boy received a life sentence to prison.

• From 1935 through 1937, the Supreme Court began dropping the charges against the accused African Americans.

• They agreed that the boys did not receive a fair trial since there were no African-Americans present during their trials.

• There were also no African Americans allowed on the jury

Seven of the boys convicted

One of the trials

All nine boys convicted

All nine boys convicted

VocabularyDefendants:a person, company, etc., against whom a

claim or charge is brought in a court Mistrial: a trial terminated without conclusion on the

merits of the case because of some error in the proceedings.

Biased: having or showing bias or prejudiceVerdict:  the finding or answer of a jury given to the court

concerning a matter submitted to their judgment.Sentenced:  an authoritative decision; a judicial

judgment or decree, esp. the judicial determination of the punishment to be inflicted on a convicted criminal.

Testimony: the statement or declaration of a witness under oath or affirmation, usually in court.

"Scottsboro Case." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 27 Oct. 2009 http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0348980-00.

"Scottsboro boys." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 27 Oct. 2009 http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0260620-0.

"Powell v. Alabama (1932)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com. Grossman, Mark. "Samuel Leibowitz.“

American History. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. <http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com>.