Justice System Discussion Essay

“Scottsboro Boys” in Powell v. Alabama

The case of the Scottsboro Boys offers important insight into the brutal justice system that characterized the southern states of the USA in the 1930s and how it failed to bring justice for African Americans. The case revolved around nine African American teenagers who had been charged with raping two Caucasian girls while on a freight train in the State of Alabama. As the case proceeded, it shifted from a trial and search for justice to a mob mentality that simply sought to punish the accused persons on the basis of their ethnicity without regard for the law. The case rested solely on the testimonies provided by the two supposed victims. The case proceeded at a very fast pace with convictions being handed down from the second day of trial.Justice System Discussion Essay

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  Public pressure came to bear on the case so that Scottsboro that had a normal population of 2,000 residents now received 10,000 visitors who came to witness the trial. The visitors and residents of Scottsboro acted with a mob mentality that placed immense pressure on the criminal justice system to speedily convict the accused persons. The nine accused persons did not receive any justice as they were represented by an incompetent lawyer. They became victims of a failed legal system. Although later reviews of the case revealed that the nine accused had been framed, the case highlights the racial injustice that characterized the southern states. The nine boys were under constant threats of death having been accused of committing crime against Caucasians under the repressive racial order of the time. Overall, the trial proceedings were a travesty of justice that took place in a carnival atmosphere emphasized by lies and wild inflated rumors about the crime. Justice System Discussion Essay