Powell v. Alabama

Background Information

Public Opinion

A group of African-Americans were on a freight train through Alabama. They got into a fight with other youths; throwing the white boys from the train. A message was sent, requesting that all Blacks be removed from the train. The two girls testified that they had been raped by six different youths in return.

Who Are the People Involved?

Angry crowds spread and gathered around the jailhouse the 9 boys were in. Police were unable to restrain the crowd, so the National Guard was called in.

-9 African American youths

-7 white males

-2 white females

An unruly mob demanded to lynch the youths.

Citations

Why is it important ?

http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar30.html

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Powell+v.+Alabama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_v._Alabama

Historical Significance

Before Powell v. Alabama you did not have the right to be represented by counsel, now you can be. It also altered the sixth amendment.

African americans were accused of rape and were not given adequate council.

The Powell case marked the first time that the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court conviction because the lower court failed to appoint counsel or give the defendants an opportunity to obtain counsel.

Supreme Court Precedent

Supreme court precedent: "Under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, counsel must be guaranteed to everyone facing a possible death sentence, whether in state or federal court."

The defendants were retried again and again after the Supreme Court reversed their convictions. In 1935, the High Court again intervened in the prosecutions, reversing the convictions based on the fact that there were no blacks on the jury rolls

How the Case Moved Through the Court System

The youths were indicted on charges of rape on March 31, 1931. They were arraigned the same day in the Jackson County Circuit Court, where they entered pleas of not guilty. Although they faced rape charges, a capital offense at the time, they were held without an opportunity to communicate with the outside world. Eight of the nine defendants were convicted and sentenced to death.

On March 24, 1932, the Supreme Court of Alabama ordered that the seven defendants be put to death by electrocution on August 31, 1932.

The executions were postponed when the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the appeals.

All of the defendants, except for Roy Wright, were sentenced to death in a series of one-day trials. The defendants were only given access to their lawyers immediately prior to the trial, leaving little or no time to plan the defense. The ruling was appealed on the grounds that the group was not provided adequate legal counsel. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that the trial was fair (the strongly dissenting opinion was from Chief Justice Anderson). This ruling was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Powell v. Alabama

By: Tori Mccullough and Shelby Spagnoli