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What is the significance of the Supreme Court case PATTERSON v. STATE OF ALABAMA?

The Patterson v.

Alabama case was a landmark decision that overturned the convictions of the "Scottsboro Boys" - a group of young African American men accused of raping two white women in 1931.

The case was part of the broader Scottsboro Trials, which were widely seen as racially-motivated prosecutions that denied the defendants a fair trial.

Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro Boys, was initially convicted of rape by an all-white jury and sentenced to death, despite a lack of credible evidence.

The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Patterson v.

Alabama held that the systematic exclusion of African Americans from the jury pool violated the defendants' constitutional rights.

The ruling in Patterson v.

Alabama built upon the Court's previous decision in Norris v.

Alabama, which had also addressed the jury discrimination issue in the Scottsboro case.

By overturning the conviction, the Court's ruling in Patterson v.

Alabama paved the way for new trials for the Scottsboro Boys, some of whom were eventually acquitted or had their convictions overturned.

The case was a significant victory for the NAACP, which had been actively involved in defending the Scottsboro Boys and challenging the racial injustices of the legal system.

The Patterson v.

Alabama decision demonstrated the Supreme Court's willingness to intervene in state-level criminal proceedings to protect the constitutional rights of African Americans.

The case was part of a broader trend in the 1930s of the Supreme Court taking a more active role in addressing issues of racial discrimination and civil rights.

The legal arguments and precedents established in Patterson v.

Alabama would go on to influence subsequent Supreme Court rulings, such as Brown v.

Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools.

Despite the importance of the Patterson v.

Alabama decision, the case is often overshadowed by the broader Scottsboro Trials and the social and political upheaval they caused.

The ruling in Patterson v.

Alabama represented a significant step forward in the long struggle for racial equality and justice in the United States.

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