Nine black teenagers were accused of raping two white women on a
train in 1931 in northern Alabama. They were arrested, tried,
convicted, and sentenced to death in the town of Scottsboro in
little more than two weeks. The "Scottsboro Boys" case rapidly
captured public attention and became a lightning rod for
fundamental issues of social justice including racial
discrimination, class oppression, and legal fairness. Involving
years of appeals, the Scottsboro trials resulted in two landmark
U.S. Supreme Court rulings and were a vortex for the
sometimes-competing interests of the American Communist Party, the
NAACP, and the young men themselves. The cases resulted in a
damning portrayal of "southern justice" and corresponding social
mores in several national and international media outlets, and in a
spirited defense of the judicial system and prevailing cultural
norms in other news reports, particularly in the South. Here, Acker
details the alleged crimes, their legal aftermath, and their
immediate and enduring social significance as evidenced in media
portrayals and other forms of popular culture. Using extensive
media reports, including contemporaneous newspaper accounts and
interpretations of the proceedings, as well as the sallies of
champions of various organizations and social causes, the author
illustrates the role of the media in the cases and the effect the
cases had on society at the time. In addition to tracing the
history of the cases and their media portrayal, the book explores
the legacy of the Scottsboro trials and appeals. It examines
several issues relevant to the cases that, even today, have
enduring significance to law and popular perceptions of justice,
including capitalpunishment, racial discrimination, innocence, the
composition and functioning of trial juries, the quality of legal
counsel for indigents, evidentiary issues in rape cases, and media
interactions with the courts. More than a true crime tale, this
book takes readers through the crime but also illustrates its
enduring legacy.
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