Evening star., 1935-04-02
SCOTTSBORO PAIR
ARE SAVED AGAIN
Supreme Court Finds Their
Constitutional Rights
Were Violated.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Once again the Supreme Court in
tervened yesterday to save two Ne
groes sentenced to death In the IA
nous Scottsboro, Ala, cases. but 1t
upheld the refusal of the Democratic
party in Texas to permit Negroes to
vote in its primaries.
In effect, the highest tribunal Or
dered new trials for both Clarence
Norris and Haywood Patterson, two
of the seven who probably would have
been executed in 1882 had it not been
for the court.
New trials were ordered In the first
instance after the court concluded that
the men were denied representation
by adequate counsel.
Rights Held Violated.
Chief Justice Hughes. in his opin-
ion, said the constitutional rights of
Norris and Patterson were violated
UcCduSC INCklOCo WClC CACluuCd AkOLk
jury service at their trials.
I'VE think the evidence that no
Negro has been called for jury serv-
ice in Jackson County (where the
trials were held) for a generation es-
tablishes there had been discrimina-
tion," the Chief Justice said.
Intense feeling has been aroused by
the ScottSboro cases, which followed
alleged assaults upon two white women
by group of colored men near the lit
tie Alabama town in 1881.
Il am thrilled beyond words" said
Samuel S. Leibowitz, New York at
torney, who argued the case before the
Supreme Court, when informed Of the
verdict.
Lieut.. Gov. Thomas E. Knight, jr.,
who, as Alabama attorney general.
prosecuted Norris and Patterson. said
that cases would be carried Ito their
conclusion"
Found Guilty by 80 Jurors.
approximately 80 jurors have found
the defendants guilty of the offense
with which they are charged, and
which is punishable by DEATH" he said.
The Texas Negro voting controversy
has been before the court at intervals
since 1924. The decision yesterday
was the fourth ruling by the court on
an appeal by colored Texan. assert
ing the right to vote in Democratic
primaries.
Texas statutes which prevented Ne
groes from voting and which author
ized the State Democratic Executive
Committee to prevent Negroes from
voting in primaries were declared un-
constitutional by the court.
But r. r. Grovey of Harris County
lost his appeal from the decision by
the Texas Democratic Convention that
only white persons might vote in party
primaries.
I'VE hold the party was a volun-
tary association and was competent
to decide its membership" said Justice
Roberts, who delivered the opinion.
Busy Opinion Day.
Returning after a two-week recess,
the court held one of the busiest orin-
| ion days OF the session, although it
failed to act on a pending New Deal
case, the constitutionality of the rail-
road pension act. Among the decisions
we're:
A ruling that an Oregon law regu-
lating advertising by dentists Is valid.
An opinion that Federal courts
handling the reorganization of bank
rupt railroads have the right to pre-
vent, temporarily, the r. r. c. and
other holders of railway notes from
selling collateral.
A decision that an Arkansas law
extending the time in which owners
could redeem property sold for failure
to meet assessments on improvement
district bonds is unconstitutional.
The declaration that the 1882 Mis-
sissippi law for reopening insolvent
| State banks Is constitutional.
The upholding, in effect, Of q lower
court decision which dismissed a suit
brought by Pacific Air Transport of
Oakland. Calf, in an effort to force
Postmaster General Farley to reinstate
| its Cancelled airmail contract.