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BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH

December 8, 1936

His Excellency

The Governor of Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama

My dear Governor Graves:

There is grave danger that the record in the case of the Scottsboro boys will soon contain a further stain which will not be easy to wash out in the years ahead. It is caused by the manner in which they have been held in jail for the last nine months. Whatever the reasons for it, the fact remains that nine boys (eight of them still awaiting trial, and the other with his case still on appeal) are kept in close confinement with no opportunity for exercise so that they are suffering in a way they can no longer endure mentally or physically. Dr. Henry M. Edmonds, Chairman of the Alabama Committee, with whom I have just talked on the long distance phone, spoke in the gravest of tones about the marked effect upon one of the boys whom he had just seen.

For five and one half years they have been in jail, treated as if they were already sentenced, and the last nine months have been in what amounts to almost solitary confinement. The Sheriff presents as his reason for doing nothing about this that no other procedure is open to him than to keep them in this type of confinement. He says that when prisoners of their prominence are allowed to mix with other prisoners there is difficulty. He brings up instances from the past where they have had trouble with the boys. He feels that in any jail to which they were sent, the same treatment would have to be given them, altho it has not been considered necessary in the first five years.

We recognize, of course, that there are difficulties involved, but they will not excuse the fact, when the record is complete, that such treatment has probably driven several of them already into such mental decline and physical disintegration (sometimes called a prison psychosis) that they are virtually executed without fair trial, and that a continuation of this method of confinement may result in this practical execution happening to them all.

Intentionally or otherwise, the confinement to which the boys have been subjected for the last nine months, can have but one result: to break them down physically and mentally so that in desperation they may make a false confession. It is well known that such confinement is often as effective as a "third degree."

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Governor Graves -- 2

I am willing to give the authorities from yourself down credit for not intending this result to occur. The record shows clearly, however, that it is happening, and the record from now on will show whether anything was done to prevent this development from continuing after it was brought officially to your attention.

It is not reasonable for anyone to argue, as some do, that the boys are proven guilty. Technically this is not so. Practically, when one looks at the history of the case, it is morally indefensible to assert it. There have been two reversals by the Supreme Court and in the other trial a new trial was granted by Judge Horton in a carefully worked out opinion in which he grants the motion that the conviction he set aside as against the weight of the evidence, in the following words:

"The testimony of the prosecutrix in this case is not only uncorroborated, but it also bears on its face indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the evidence greatly preponderates in favor of the defendant. It therefore become the duty of the Court under the law to grant the motion made in this case.

"It is therefore ordered and adjuged by the Court that the motion be granted; that the verdict of the jury in this case and the motion of the court sentencing this defendant to death be, and the same is hereby set aside and that a new trial be and the same is hereby ordered."

If it should be proven, as we who are defending the boys believe we can prove, that the boys are not guilty of the crime as alleged, and yet at the end it is a fact that the state has so acted toward these boys that they are virtually executed by a jail confinement humanly impossible to endure, the case will be a lasting reproach to all who are involved.

The sickness of the judge in the case has postponed the trial again. The case is dragging into six years. A reasonable request, backed by the support of a representative and responsible group of Alabama citizens comprising the Alabama Scottsboro Committee, including lawyers of high distinction, that a change of venue be granted for the next trials has so far been denied, altho there are procedures open to the authorities to grant this motion which, under the circumstances, is essential to a fair trial being held in the next appearance of the case.

We feel that we could properly be considered derelict in our duty if we did not bring this matter strongly before you. We shall allow a reasonable time for a positive reply. We are, however, prepared to carry the matter much further. There are channels on influence on responsible public opinion open to members of

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Governor Graves -- 3

the committee. These we shall use with all diligence. We

have become conscious thru recent reports that we may already

have delayed too long in making an emphatic public protest

against a situation which, however anyone may try to justify

it is in practice inhumane.

I shall hope for a favorable reply to this letter which comes

to you as the official action of the Scottsboro Defense Committee

and with the knowledge and consent of the Alabama Committee.

                                                             Very sincerely

                                                             ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS