Scottsboro: An American Tragedy (2001)

When fate places people in the wrong place at the wrong time, fear and suspicion can fuel injustice like a runaway train. This documentary offers a comprehensive study of the infamous 1931 Alabama legal case involving nine black men, ages thirteen to nineteen, who were unjustly accused of raping two young white women. Because no one in the state would touch the case, the "boys" were poorly represented by an overconfident New York Jewish defense lawyer and all nine were convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death.