NAACP vs. Communist Party Dispute Over Scottsboro Defense

The International Labor Defense (ILD), the legal arm of the Communist Party USA, seized control of the Scottsboro Boys' defense over the NAACP's objections in 1931. The ILD argued the NAACP was too moderate; the NAACP countered that Communist involvement would politically taint the defendants. The dispute split the Black community and left the defendants at the center of Cold War-era political battles. The ILD hired Samuel Leibowitz, who won key Supreme Court victories but could not secure final acquittals in Alabama's courts. The last defendant was not paroled until 1950.