I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope

Prout, Chessy and Jane Abelson. I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope. 2018. 416p. ISBN 9781534414433.

Chessy lived in Japan with her family when the tsunami ravaged the country in 2011, causing a major nuclear accident in Fukushima. The family of expatriates soon returned to the United States following the disaster, and Chessy found herself in the American school system for the first time. Her middle school years in Naples, Florida were uneventful, but she looked forward to attending St. Paul School in Concord, New Hampshire, Her father was an alumni of the school, and her older sister was currently a junior. When Chessy was accepted, she knew her world would never be the same.

The climate at St. Paul was tense, with senior boys feeling entitled to grope and harass female students and with faculty unwilling or unable to make it stop. In May of her freshman year, Chessy was raped by a senior classmate in a game seniors called the senior salute. Chessy courageously reported her experience to the police, and her aggressor was arrested and tried. This experience changed Chessy. She developed panic attacks, trust issues, and was forced to move to a different school after the St. Paul community rallied behind her aggressor. Through it all she remained driven to see justice served, and he was eventually convicted.

Chessy's story is not unique, and she was better equipped than most with parental support, loving siblings, and a community of other survivors who rallied behind her. Chessy came forward with her experiences so that others would understand what happened to her and to effect policy changes in teaching consent at a young age. Chessy continues to be an advocate for survivors, and lends her voice and support to make sure that this doesn't happen to another girl.

Powell v. Alabama: The Scottsboro Boys and American Justice

 Horne, Gerald. Powell v. Alabama: The Scottsboro Boys and American Justice. 1997. 128p. ISBN 978-0-531-11314-0. Available at 345.73 HOR on the library shelves.

In 1931, nine African American youths were removed from a train in Alabama and accused of raping two white women. They were promptly arraigned, tried, and sentenced to death in the face of a hostile crowd and jury of all white men. In the rush to achieve what they saw as justice, however, a racist society's representatives committed several errors of law, which were twice appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, creating landmark rulings that still affect us today.

In Powell v. Alabama, the author reviews the trial cases that led to the condemnation of the boys. Their arrest, the trial, and the various appeals are described extensively. Prior to the Supreme Court decision in Powell v. Alabama, the right to a fair trial and independent and competent counsel varied widely from State to State and even from person to person. A White person brought up on capital punishment charges stood a better chance in a court of law than a Black person. They likely had better representation and did not have to fight organized and systemic racism.

Powell v. Alabama resulted in a decision that all criminal suspects had the right to counsel under the 6th Amendment. Horne describes how this was not a foregone conclusion, as this right did not exist in England before the American Revolution. Supreme Court justices, however, recognized the necessity for a fair and impartial justice system to provide the foundation of a democratic society. 

The second case that made it to the Supreme Court out of the Scottsboro Boys trial was Norris v. Alabama, which recognized that juries needed to include African Americans and other people to better represent society.

For more specific information about the Scottsboro Boys, read Accused! The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment. Accused! The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment.