Online Poll
From the moment nine African American teenagers were accused of rape in Paint Rock, Alabama, and mobs of angry Alabamans descended on Scottsboro jail threatening to lynch them, the American judicial process was put to the test. The International Labor Defense's efforts on behalf of the defendants, including the hiring of defense attorney Samuel Leibowitz, further antagonized local sentiments. Judge James Horton issued a warning to increasingly agitated trial spectators that he would not tolerate the mob spirit that threatened to destroy the careful consideration of guilt or innocence in the case. Ultimately, the defense would bring in a Southern lawyer for the third trial, in Decatur.
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