While the Civil War may have legally ended slavery, remnants of slavery and racial animosity continued to exist, and perhaps still do, in many parts of the country. Even after the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments, which attempted to empower newly freed African American slaves and give them equal rights of citizenship, states managed to find ways to disenfranchise blacks from exercising their newly acquired rights of citizenship. Racial prejudice was especially pervasive in the South. The era of Jim Crow laws, which controlled nearly every aspect of Southern public life, maintained strict separation of whites and blacks (Welke, 2001, p. 268). Understanding this social backdrop is important for placing the Scottsboro Trial in proper context.
The film was a documentary about nine young black boys in Alabama accused of raping two white women. On March 25, 1931, the lives of nine African American youths would change forever. The boys were travelling on a train bound for Paint Rock, Alabama when two white women accused them of rape. The nine young men were Hayward Patterson (18) was on his way to Memphis looking for a job, Clarence Norris (19), Charlie Winns (19), Eugene Williams (13), Willie Roberson (18), Ozzie Powell (18), Olen Montgomery (18), Andy Wright (19) and Roy Wright (13). Hayward Patterson looked like anyone else except I guess you would call it deviant facial features which made him more of a target than anyone else. Willie Robertson was suffering from a severe case of syphilis to the point he could barely walk and Olen Montgomery had bad vision and was nearly blind.
The young women were Victoria Price (21) and Ruby Bates (17). Both women were from the same city and economic background they worked in the textile mills. Price had been married twice by age 2l and had a short record. Price was not your average southern belle. She was very outspoken, feisty, and also known for her promiscuous ways. This put her in a difficult situation, as she committed adultery and was selling her body for clothes and food. Bates was similar to Price, except that she was a more quiet, soft-spoken young lady.
The film highlighted the deeply-rooted prejudices that many people had towards blacks. Not only were the defendants members of an extremely unpopular group, but they were accused of committing a heinous crime against white women. This crime merely added fuel to the fire of racial tension and animosity that many Southern whites had against blacks. As to be expected in a Southern state during this time period, the guilt of the defendants was practically decided well before the start of the trial. The trial of the defendants was haphazard of cursory in nature, and not surprisingly, the defendants were all found guilty and sentenced to death.
On April 6, 1931, the trials for the nine boys began with two hundred national guardsmen to watch the crowd of people who came that day. Victoria Price testified to the incident saying, “There were 6 to me and 3 on Ruby, one was holding my legs and the other had a knife to my throat while another ravished me that one sitting behind the defendants took my overalls off six of them had intercourse to me.” Also Ruby Bates followed along with Victoria Price but she was unable to identify the men who raped her. The nine boys were unable to get a lawyer in Scottsboro. Instead, they obtained a lawyer from Chattanooga, Tennessee for $60 that their parents were able to scrape together. Clarence Norris and Hayward Patterson were the first to take the stand and they both denied even committing this horrific crime, but blamed the others. The trials lasted three days and each boy was convicted of rape. All were sentenced to death except for the youngest boy.
The Scottsboro Trial raised a number of core constitutional questions that go to the heart of the American justice system. The first major constitutional issue in the case was the lack of adequate representation and effective assistance of counsel that the defendants received during trial. The Sixth Amendment clearly provides that a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to “assistance of counsel” (U.S. Const. amend. VI). The underlying purpose of counsel goes to notions of fundamental fairness to the defendant during the adversary proceeding. In a criminal trial, the people are represented by the Prosecuting attorney who is trained and well-versed in the law. The average defendant has very little knowledge about the criminal process or legal standards and will not be able to mount an effective defense in a court of law. Therefore, as part of ensuring that a defendant receives a fair trial, a defendant is guaranteed the right to counsel.
In the Scottsboro Trial, it was abundantly clear that the defendants received poor legal representation. While counsel represented the defendants, counsel was ill prepared and very ineffective. In the landmark case of Powell v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that the defendant’s ineffective counsel amounted to a due process violation that denied the defendants a fair trial (Powell v. Alabama, 1932, p. 71). This holding is significant because it reads into the Sixth Amendment right to counsel an “effective” requirement.
The second major constitutional flaw was the composition of the jury that convicted the defendants. The defendants were convicted by an all-white jury. Most likely, this was because Alabama prohibited blacks from serving on juries. Or, the Prosecution struck all of the black jurors from the jury pool. The modern legal regime would provide some protection for black defendants to challenge the make-up of an all white jury. Under Batson v Kentucky, the Supreme Court affirmed that the Prosecution could not use race as a basis for using a peremptory challenge to strike a prospective juror from service (Batson v Kentucky, 1986, p. 89). Furthermore, it is a denial of Equal protection to exclude persons from serving on juries on racial grounds (Batson v Kentucky, 1986, p. 88). Were this same case to be tried today, blacks would have certainly been impaneled on the jury. While there is no guarantee that black jurors will be more sympathetic to black defendants, the Constitution forbids states from excluding jurors solely on the basis of race.
In today’s modern legal landscape, there are many refinements and limitations on the use of he death penalty than there were back in 1932 when the Scottsboro Trial took place. First, the Supreme Court in Coker v. Georgia has held that the rape of an adult woman is not a death eligible offense and subjecting the defendant to death for this crime violates the Eighth Amendment (Coker v. Georgia, 1977, p. 592). The rationale of the Court was that the death penalty was a grossly disproportionate punishment for the offense of rape which does not result in the victim’s death (Coker v. Georgia, 1977, p. 592). The alleged victims who accused the defendants of rape were adults. Therefore, the Constitution would forbid any state from sentencing the defendants to death for the rape of an adult woman.
Another issue that would come into play for the Scottsboro Trial were it to take place in modern times is the fact that the defendants were minors. In Alabama in the 1930s, this did not have any bearing on the type or severity of punishment the defendants could receive. Since then, however, the Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons declared that sentencing a minor to death is unconstitutional and in violation the Eighth Amendment (Roper v. Simmons, 2005, p. 569). Because some of the defendant were minors, they would therefore be ineligible to receive the death penalty.
Broadly speaking, there is far less institutional racism than there was back when the height of this trial occurred. While blacks are still disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, there are increased substantive and procedural due process protections to guard against injustice and unfairness. The defendants would be able to raise constitutional challenges to a number of aspects about the trials they received. It is clear that they had ineffective assistance of counsel, which had a major impact on the sentence handed down by the jury. Most likely what would happen today is that such a highly publicized and sensational case would attract the best and brightest legal defense time in the country. This case would attract a great deal of media attention, which would in turn, prompt a very skilled and knowledge defense attorney who specializes in criminal matters to take the case pro bono.
Another aspect of the case that would be different by today’s standards was the swiftness and promptness of the sentence. Modern death penalty cases tend to drag on for many years due to the complexity of the issues and the appeals process. During sentencing, the judge imposed the capital sentence the earliest possible date permitted under the law.
DNA testing also comes into play for modern crimes of rape and sexual assault. In 1931, the science and technology was not available. But now, DNA tests can be performed which can conclusively exclude certain suspects. The two women, after accusing the nine boys of rape, would have to submit to a rape kit, which would likely yield semen samples from the suspects. A DNA test could conclusively prove whether the nine accused boys were in fact responsible for raping these two women. If there was no DNA found on the women, it is unlikely that there was ever any physical or sexual contact between the women and the accused boys.
DNA has also made it possible to exonerate suspects even after they have been convicted. Groups like the Innocence Project have exonerated hundreds of innocent persons through DNA testing and technology, oftentimes after the person has served years behind bars for a crime he or she did not commit. The possibility of exoneration after-the-fact could help these boys prove their innocence and show that they did not commit the crimes they were accused of.
If this case was brought up in today’s time I can see a difference in how things would have been handled. For instance the similarities with this case within today’s society is that the boys convicted of this crime were African American, in many cases within today’s society in people are African American and the accusers are White women, and they are more likely to be convicted or considered guilty because of their skin. But like in the case, semen was found inside but it was dead not alive meaning none of those raped these young ladies
References
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).
Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584 (1977).
Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932).
Roper v. Simons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
U.S. Const. amend. VI.
Welke, B.Y. (2001). Beyond plessy: Space, status, and race in the era of Jim Crow. Utah
Law Review, 267-299.
