The nine young African Americans were recognized as the “Scottsboro boys” They were accused of raped of two white women on a train toward Alabama in 1931. The white jury convicted eight of them. All except one, the youngest at 12 years old, and were sentenced to death. The story of the Scottsboro Boys is important not only in civil rights history, but also in the evolution of constitutional law, for it was this case that led to a more wide-reaching, interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection under the law" and of "due process of law." The case also expanded the scope of the Sixth Amendment's assurance of a defendant's right to "have the assistance of counsel." Specifically, the case ultimately resulted in