Scottsboro Boys
In 1931 Alabama, a fight broke out between black and white teenage boys on a train through Tennessee after the white boys tried to force the black boys off, claiming it was "a white man's train". The fight ended, but at the next stop the white boys went to the local authorities and the nine black teenagers were charged with assault.
The officers searched the train and found two white women who accused the black males of raping them. In reality, the women had sexual relations with some of the white men on the train but agreed to testify against the black youth.
The kids were immediately charged for rape, which warranted the death penalty in Alabama. The trial was held in Scottsoboro, where the boys were not provided adequate legal counsel and the judge and jury were all white. Ultimately, 8 of the 9 boys were sentenced to death by hanging.
The American Communist Party (CP) and the NAACP joined forces to form the Scottsboro Defense Committee. After three trials and two Supreme court cases, the young men were finally exonerated in 1937. This case resulted in changes in death penalty legislation.
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