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Nine black teenagers get into a fight with a group of whites and the blacks get the better of them. They where charged with assault, then charged with rape.
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Trials begin in Scottsboro before judge A.E. Hawkins
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Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are tried and convicted, and sentenced to death. The trial of Roy Wright ends in a mistrial when some jurors hold out for a death sentence even though the prosecution asked for life imprisonment.
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Executions are stayed pending appeal to Alabama Supreme Court
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On the date first set for their executions, the Scottsboro boys listen to the execution of Willie Stokes, the first of ten blacks to be executed at the prison over the next ten years. After hearing gruesome reports of the execution, many of the boys report nightmares or sleepless nights.
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Ruby Bates, in a letter to Earl Streetman, denies that she was raped.
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The U. S. Supreme Court announces that it will review the Scottsboro cases.
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Samuel S. Leibowitz, a New York lawyer, is retained by the ILD to defend the Scottsboro boys.
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Haywood Patterson's second trial begins in Decatur before judge James Horton.
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Haywood Patterson found guilty by jury and sentenced to death in the electric chair.
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In one of many protests around the nation, thousands march in Washington protesting the Alabama trials.
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The Scottsboro cases are removed from Judge Horton's jurisdiction and transferred to Judge William Callahan's court.
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Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris are tried for rape, convicted, and sentenced to death.
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Clarence Norris's death sentence is reduced to life in prison by Governor Graves.
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Governor Graves interviews Scottsboro boys.
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Governor Graves denies all pardon applications.
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Clarence Norris, the last surviving Scottsboro boy, dies at age 76.