Alabama Opens Way for Scottsboro Boys Pardon in Rape Case

[Purveyor]

Eight black teens who were convicted 82 years ago by an all-white jury of raping two white women in Alabama can now be posthumously pardoned by the state.

Republican Governor Robert Bentley, 70, has signed legislation allowing the pardons of the so-called Scottsboro Boys, saying he wanted to “right this wrong,” the Associated Press said yesterday. Bentley has said he wanted to close a chapter of state history that led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision against excluding blacks from juries.

The gubernatorially appointed Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole must approve any pardon petition submitted for the dead men. The news service said Bentley aides delivered the signed legislation to the Secretary of State’s office yesterday, citing a spokeswoman it didn’t identify. Until now, state law didn’t allow posthumous pardons.

The case originated during the Depression, in 1931, after a fight between two groups of teens -- one black, one white -- riding illegally on a train in northern Alabama.

The white riders complained to police, who searched the train and found nine black boys and two white women, both of whom later said they were raped.

MORE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-12/alabama-to-pardon-scottsboro-boys-of-rape-82-years-later.html

[DreamGypsy]

1. A few more details on the 'legal' proceedings ...

...from Wikipedia:

On March 25, 1931, several people were hoboing on a freight train traveling between Chattanooga and Memphis, Tennessee. Several white boys jumped off the train and reported to the sheriff they had been attacked by a group of black boys. The sheriff deputized a posse, stopped and searched the train at Paint Rock, Alabama, arrested the black boys, and found two white girls who accused the boys of rape. The case was first heard in Scottsboro, Alabama in three rushed trials, where the defendants received poor legal representation. All but the thirteen-year-old Roy Wright were convicted of rape and sentenced to death, the common sentence in Alabama at the time for black men convicted of raping white women. But with help from the American Communist Party, the case was appealed. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed seven of the eight convictions, and granted thirteen-year-old Eugene Williams a new trial because he was a juvenile. Chief Justice John C. Anderson dissented however, ruling that the defendants had been denied an impartial jury, fair trial, fair sentencing, and effective counsel. Upon waiting for their trials, eight of the nine defendants stayed in Kilby Prison.

The case was returned to the lower court and the judge allowed a change of venue, moving the retrials to Decatur, Alabama. Judge Horton was appointed. During the retrials, one of the alleged victims admitted fabricating the rape story and asserted that none of the Scottsboro Boys touched either of the white women. The jury found the defendants guilty, but the judge set aside the verdict and granted a new trial. After a new series of trials, the verdict was the same: guilty. The cases were ultimately tried three times. For the third time a jury—now with one black member—returned a third guilty verdict. Charges were finally dropped for four of the nine defendants. Sentences for the rest ranged from 75 years to death. All but two served prison sentences. One was shot in prison by a guard. Two escaped, were charged with crimes, and were sent back to prison. Clarence Norris, the oldest defendant and the only one sentenced to death, escaped parole and went into hiding in 1946. He was pardoned by George Wallace in 1976 after he was found, and wrote a book about his experiences. The last surviving defendant died in 1989.

Lots more on the Wikipedia page.


The Scottsboro Boys, with attorney Samuel Leibowitz,
under guard by the state militia, 1932