John Crawford Anderson (August 5, 1863 – April 27, 1940) was an associate justice of the

Supreme Court of Alabama The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the U.S. state, state of Alabama. The court consists of a Chief Justice, chief justice and eight Associate Justice, associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for stagge ...

from 1904 to 1914, and then Chief Justice from 1914 until his death in 1940. Born in

Greene County, Alabama Greene County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,730, the least populous county in Alabama. Its county seat is Eutaw. It was named in honor of Revolutiona ...

, Anderson received a law degree from the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the only public law school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the ...

in 1883, and established a successful law practice in

Marengo County, Alabama Marengo County is a County (United States), county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, Alabama, Demopolis, ...

.Alabama Judicial Branch biography of John Crawford Anderson
. He was initially appointed to a circuit court position by Governor

William C. Oates William Calvin Oates (either November 30 or December 1, 1835September 9, 1910) was a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, the 29th Governor of Alabama from 1894 to 1896, and a brigadier general in the U.S. Ar ...

in 1895. He was elected to a newly created seat on the Alabama Supreme Court in 1904, and was elevated to Chief Justice in 1914 (succeeding James R. Dowdell). He served in that position until his death in 1940. While Chief Justice, Anderson was the only member of the Alabama Supreme Court to dissent in the

Scottsboro Boys The Scottsboro Boys were nine African Americans, African American male teenagers accused of rape, raping two White American, white women in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with Racism in the United States, racism ...

cases, a high-profile event where nine young Black men were accused and rapidly convicted of raping two White women. Anderson argued that the "overheated" nature of the proceedings and the failure to provide adequate counsel necessitated new trials for the defendants.Powell v. State, 141 So. 201 (Ala. 1932) His position was later vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court in ''

Powell v. Alabama ''Powell v. Alabama'', 287 U.S. 45 (1932), was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court reversed the convictions of nine young black men for allegedly raping two white women on a freight train near Scottsboro, Alabama. T ...

''.

References

1863 births 1940 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama University of Alabama School of Law alumni Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama {{Alabama-state-judge-stub