Judge decries Trump’s reference to Scottsboro Boys case during federal court proceedings

The Scottsboro Boys rape trials refers to a case in which two white women wrongfully accused nine Black youths of raping them on a train near Scottsboro, Alabama, in 1931.

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s federal criminal case in Washington is pushing forward with a March 2024 trial date, decrying the former president’s allusion to the historic Scottsboro Boys case.

Trump cited the 1931 Supreme Court ruling to support his claim that special counsel Jack Smith isn’t giving him enough time to prepare a defense ahead of trial, according to CNN.

Earlier this month, Smith filed four counts against Trump, including conspiring to defraud the United States and obstructing an official proceeding, the latter of which he successfully brought against rioters who raided the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan expressed her distaste for the comparison to the Scottsboro Boys case, chastising the former president’s counsel for using the “profoundly different” case to attempt to delay going to trial next year.

“Quoting the case, the defense argues that scheduling a too speedy trial is ‘not to proceed promptly in the calm spirit of regulated justice but to go forward with the haste of the mob,’” Chutkan said, referencing the 1932 Supreme Court opinion in Powell v. Alabama.

The Scottsboro Boys rape trials refers to a case in which two white women wrongfully accused nine Black youths of raping them on a train near Scottsboro, Alabama, in 1931.

En route to look for work in Memphis, Tennessee, the boys initially received a minor charge after a fight broke out on the train. Later, two women accused them of rape.

They went through several trials, and an all-white jury ultimately sentenced all except the youngest to death. After several appeals and retrials, each of the nine teens served a minimum of six years in jail.

In addition to Powell v. Alabama, those trials led to the 1935 Supreme Court case Norris v. Alabama, which cleared the path for racially diverse juries.

Five Scottsboro defendants had their rape charges dismissed by Alabama, while the sixth, Clarence Norris, was granted a pardon by Gov. George Wallace in 1976. The three Scottsboro Boys who had neither gotten a pardon nor had their convictions overturned received posthumous pardons from the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles in 2013.

Judge Chutkan made clear there is no connection between one of the most well-known racial injustice cases of the 20th century and Trump’s attempts to maintain power in the wake of his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

“This timeline does not move the case forward with the haste of the mob,” she said. “The trial will start three years, one month, and 27 days after the events of Jan. 6, 2021.”

While Trump’s lawyers didn’t discuss the Supreme Court decision at Monday’s hearing, they used it to introduce their Aug. 17 brief to Chutkan.

Trump attorney John Lauro informed Chutkan that while they would abide by her decision, they wouldn’t be able to supply sufficient representation to a client charged with serious offenses as a result of the trial date.

He also provided a list of additional legal options for Trump to delay the trial.

Retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell told CNN that comparing the Scottsboro Boys case to Trump’s was “stunningly stupid” and “ridiculous.” 

“If you want to alienate a judge in the case, this was exactly what to do,” he added, the network reported. “A female judge, a Black judge, and to talk about that case and compare it to Trump’s case was absurd.”

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