On July 6, 1983, the US Supreme Court upheld the death sentence that was given in part for the racial motivation behind a murder in Barclay v. Florida.
On July 6, 1983, the US Supreme Court upheld the death sentence that was given in part for the racial motivation behind a murder in Barclay v. Florida.
Slave trade abolished in Britain
A British bill abolishing the slave trade became law on March 25, 1807.
Learn more about slavery and the slave trade in Britain.
Scottsboro Boys arrested
On March 25, 1931, nine black teenagers were arrested in Paint Rock, Alabama for allegedly raping two white women. Twelve days later, the young men were put on trial in the nearby town of Scottsboro. After numerous the proceedings culminated in two landmark decisions by the US Supreme Court, Powell v. Alabama and Norris v. Alabama. Ultimately, the death sentences issued by the jury were overturned, but the defendants were nonetheless sent to prison. The trials of the Scottsboro Boys have come to symbolize the role of race in the criminal justice system of the Jim Crow South. Read a history of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys, as composed by Law Professor Douglas O. Linder of the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law.
