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The Fight
A fight occurred between white and black passengers riding as hoboes on a Southern Railroad freight train. The train stopped in Alabama and the nine black men involved were arrested, with rape charges added to their original assault. -
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Scottsboro Trials
This timeline spans from the incident which resulted in the arrests of the nine young men, until to compromise. Note that there were events after this compromise. -
Rapid Trials
Eight of the nine defendants had already been tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. This included Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams and Andy Wright. The youngest, Roy Wright's trial ended in a hung jury, when eleven jurors wanted a death sentence and one opted for life imprisonment instead for the thirteen year old. -
NAACP Withdrawl
Both The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the International Labor Defense (I.L.D.), wanted the publicity that went along with the case, they both wanted to court the defendants, their parents, and public opinion for the right to represent the young men in an appeal, and raise money for their defense. On this date, the NAACP withdrew from the trial. -
Supreme Court's Ruling
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, who in later months decided that in Powell v. Alabama, the defendants were denied their right to counsel, which violated their right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The cases are moved to the lower court. -
Surprise Witness
One of the white women, who accused the men of rape, Ruby Bates, appeared as a witness for the defense. She denied that any rape occurred, in her mind setting the record straight. Even with her testimony, the verdict for the defendant was still guilty with death sentence included. -
Relocation
The cases were removed from Judge Horton's court, who previously set aside a conviction with motion for a new trial, by overruling the jurors sentence. Judge William Callahan's court, was the new setting for the trials. -
Alabama Supreme Court
The Alabama Supreme Court collectively denied the defense motion for new trials. Leibowitz had argued that qualified blacks were methodically kept off jury rolls, and the names that were presently in the rolls had been forged afterward. -
Leibowitz Appears
Samuel Leibowitz made his first appearance in front of The Supreme Court of the United States. He describes the absence of blacks in Jackson County juries and spoke of the injustice regarding jury rolls with forged names. -
Recognition of Bias
In Norris v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court found the fact that blacks were excluded jury rolls deprived black defendants of their rights to equal protection under the law, as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment. -
The Compromise
Prosecuting attorney Lieutenant Governor Thomas Knight met Leibowitz in New York and negotiated a compromise. This compromise resulted in four of the defendants getting parole, and four receiving prison time.
