•AVIS . .. When Clarence Norris and the other eight "Scottsboro Boys" were sentenced to death in 1931 for the alleged rape of two young white women, Milton Carver Davis was not even born. But 45 years later in November, 1976, Milton Davis was a central figure in legal developments that led to the official pardon of Clarence Norris, the last known survivor of the 1931 case. Although they were all convicted on the same evidence and the same charge, then Alabama Governor Bibb Graves only pardoned four of the nine "Scottsboro Boys" in 1938. Norris was among those not pardoned. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Fifteen years in prison, a parole, a parole violation, imprisonment again, and escape — ultimately to New York — preceded Norris' bid for official freedom in 1975. The history of the nation's oldest black college fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, notes that an Alphaman was among the two biack' journalists permitted to attend the now infamous "Scottsboro" trial (page 300). When the Alpha book is rewritten, Davis will no doubt earn himself an appropriate spot in the fraternity's archives. The Tuskegee alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity recently named Davis Alpha Man of the Year for 1977 and supported his candidacy for state honors during a February convention in Huntsville. Davis was an assistant attorney general for Alabama when the Norris pardon was granted, and he now practices law in Tuskegee. His role in the Scottsboro pardon was a significant contribution and experience for a 27-year-old lawyer, Davis admits, but he doesn't like to take much credit. NAACP officials were stymied in their effort to win pardon for Norris. Davis agreed to put the case before Attorney General Bill Baxley. The Alabama attorney subsequently ruled that Norris should never have been found guilty and requested a pardon. Davis researched and wrote the opinion on which the attorney general made his judgment. There were negotiations — about the opinion and arrangements for the pardon. Davis spoke with the authority of the attorney general before the appropriate boards. Milton Davis' rise to legal acclaim didn't start with his 1974 appointment as an assistant attorney general of Alabama. "This is where it all started," Davis says about his hometown of Tuskegee, the principal reason he has returned to this Macon County town to practice law. "This is home . . . a black community with resources . . . a place in which you can develop your potential," he confidently observes about this rural Alabama town. "I don't think Tuskegee and Macon County have been exhausted as places where people can grow." And Davis doesn't discount "the privilege of being in the majority," an obvious reference to Macon County's predominantly black population. 14
Brother Milton C. Davis, Esq., and NAACP Executive Director Roy Wilkins pose following the successful fight to pardon Clarence Norris, last of the "Scottsboro Boys."
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Davis credits his hometown as being a world "showcase," although he admits it may not be as attractive as other "windows. But when people go shopping, they definitely stop by here." He is especially proud of his domestic roots. An honor graduate of Tuskegee Institute High, Davis' classmates tabbed him most likely to succeed. A devout Catholic, he was among the first ten students on the National Student Advisory Board to the U. S. Catholic Conference. Davis was there when the 1971 World Council of Youth met in France. And he formerly served on the Board of Directors for the National Office for Black Catholics. When he graduated from Tuskegee in 1 9 7 1 , the Ford Foundation offered him a $5,000 fellowship to study political The Sphinx / May 1977