en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Leibowitz
1 correction found
nine Southern African-American youths who were falsely accused of rape and sentenced to death in Alabama in 1931
Not all nine Scottsboro defendants were sentenced to death in 1931. Contemporary summaries from major historical institutions say eight were sentenced to death, while Roy Wright’s case ended in a hung jury/mistrial.
Full reasoning
The post overstates the outcome of the first Scottsboro trials.
Reliable historical summaries agree that eight, not nine, of the Scottsboro defendants were sentenced to death in 1931:
- The National Museum of African American History and Culture says: "On April 9, 1931, eight of the nine young men were convicted and sentenced to death."
- The U.S. National Archives states that the lone exception was 13-year-old Roy Wright, whose case ended in a mistrial when jurors could not agree.
So the article's statement that all nine youths were "sentenced to death" is factually incorrect; one defendant was not sentenced to death in that first round of trials.
2 sources
- The Scottsboro Boys | National Museum of African American History and Culture
On April 9, 1931, eight of the nine young men were convicted and sentenced to death.
- The Scottsboro Boys | U.S. National Archives
They [the prison guards] told us if we didn’t ... tenced to death. The lone exception was 13-year-old Roy Wright ... was forced to declare a mistrial.