When New York attorney
Samuel Liebowitz receieved a call from the International Labor Defense
asking him whether he would defend the Scottsboro Boys in their new
trials,
he was considered by many to be the "new Clarence Darrow," the man to
call
if you were charged with a capital crime. In over fifteen years
of
criminal defense work, Liebowitz had represented seventy-eight persons
charged with first-degree murder. His remarkable record over that
period was seventy-seven acquittals, one hung jury, and no convictions.
Liebowitz, born in 1893, immigrated to the United States from Romania when he was four, attended college and law school at Cornell, then embarked on a career as a criminal defense attorney, seeing it as one path relatively open to Jews at the time. In the courtroom, Liebowitz was known for his meticulous preparation, knowledge of the law, vibrant voice, and flamboyant style.
Many people expressed surprise that the communists would ask Liebowitz to lead the Scottsboro defense. He was neither a communist or even a radical, but rather a mainstream Democrat who had never been associated with class-based causes. The choice of Liebowitz convinced many that the communists were serious about achieving justice for the Alabama defendants, and not just interested in making political hay. Liebowitz would be asked to accept as co-counsel, however, the ILD's chief attorney, Joseph Brodsky.
After reading the record of the first trials and becoming convinced of the innocense of the Scottsboro Boys, Liebowitz accepted the ILD's offer. He did so against the urgings of his wife and many friends who told him that the skin color of the defendants gave them no chance in the Alabama of the 1930's. He would work for the next four years on the cases without pay or reimbursement for most of his expenses.
Liebowitz quickly became an object of loathing around Decatur when he opened his defense of Haywood Patterson by challenging Alabama's exclusion of blacks from the jury rolls. Local hatred of Liebowitz grew uglier, as death threats were made against him after his tough cross-examination of Victoria Price. One national reporter overheard several people saying, "It'll be a wonder if he gets out of here alive." Five uniformed members of the National Guard were assigned to protect him during the trial, with another 150 available to defend against a possible lynch mob.
Liebowitz was stunned by the jury's guilty verdict in Patterson's 1933 trial. He compared the verdict to "the act of spitting on the tomb of Abraham Lincoln." Back in New York after the trial, Liebowitz vowed to defend the Boys "until hell freezes over." Speaking before enthusiatic audiences sometimes numbering in the thousands, he promised to take guilty verdicts to the Supreme Court and back until Alabama finally gives up: "It'll be a merry-go-round, and if some Klu Kluxer doesn't put a bullet through my head, I'll go right along until they let the passengers off." Liebowitz's determined efforts won the affection of his clients. Haywood Patterson said of Liebowitz, "I love him more than life itself."
After Judge Horton ordered a new trial for Patterson and the state transferred the cases to the courtroom of Judge William Callahan, Liebowitz's frustration grew. Virtually every motion or objection Liebowitz made was denied, virtually every motion or objection made by the prosecution was sustained. His anger showed, and Liebowitz found himself mocked, scolded, and reprimanded by the Judge Callahan. After guilty verdicts and death sentences were handed to Patterson and Norris, a battle for control of the case ensued between Liebowitz and the ILD. Liebowitz's anger with the ILD exploded after two ILD attorneys were charged with attempting to bribe Victoria Price.
Liebowitz appeared before the United States Supreme Court to participate in the appeal of Patterson's and Norris's convictions on the ground that blacks were systematically excluded from Alabama's juries. When Liebowitz alleged that the names of blacks appearing on jury rolls were fraudulently added after Haywood's trial began, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes asked Liebowitz if he could prove that allegation. Liebowitz called for a page to bring in the jury roll and a magnifying glass, which was passed from justice to justice. Their facial reactions indicated disgust. The Supreme Court reversed the convictions in a decision that Liebowitz called a "triumph for American justice."
After the third set of trials, Liebowitz began to involve himself again in projects unrelated to Scottsboro. He met on death row several times with Bruno Hauptmann, the German immigrant convicted of kidnapping Charles Lindbergh's baby, in the hopes of convincing him to reveal details of the crime.
In early 1937, following a series of secret meetings with Thomas Knight, Liebowitz reluctantly agreed to a compromise which would result in the release of four of the Scottsboro Boys while allowing prosecutions to again go forward against the others.Of the compromise, Liebowitz said, "I say yes, but with a heavy heart, and I feel very badly about it." In the next set of Scottsboro trials, Liebowitz allowed a local attorney to assume the more visible role, while he did the coaching. Liebowitz and others concerned with the Scottsboro Boy's welfare feared that the trials might become a refendum on Liebowitz himself, who was by then more unpopular than ever in northern Alabama.
After his work on the Scottsboro Boys case was finished, Liebowitz returned to his New York practice, then was appointed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court of New York.
Liebowitz died in January, 1978.