The Never-Ending Battle for Justice in America

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted and Published on July 1, 2025

University of Alabama Law Student Donald V. Watkins

An Editorial Opinion

Fifty-five years ago, I moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to attend the University of Alabama’s law school on a Herbert Lehman desegregation scholarship awarded by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City.  Lehman scholarships were awarded to young African American students who demonstrated an interest in advancing the cause of civil rights, via their willingness to (a) desegregate legacy law schools in the southern states and (b) represent the NAACP in assigned cases after they were licensed to practice law.

In 1970, I was one of two black students to desegregate the University of Alabama School of Law.  George Jones was admitted to the law school with me.

Donald Watkins (left) with George Jones (right) talking to a white law student during a break between classes.

Three black law students -- Michael Figures, Booker Foyt, and Ronald Jackson -- broke the color barrier at the law school the prior academic year.  The stress from the desegregation ordeal is apparent on their faces. Not one of them smiled for his law school class photo.

From left to right, law students Michael Figures, Booker Foyt, and Ronald Jackson entered UA law school the year before George Jones and Donald Watkins were admitted in 1970.

At the time, Alabama proudly promoted itself as the "Heart of Dixie" and "Cradle of the Confederacy." The Confederate flag flew above the U.S. flag atop the state capitol.

All five of Black law students caught pure hell at UA every day.  It was the longest and loneliest three years of my life. 

I was cheated out of awards for which I competed and won on merit. The cheating was so bad that the Law School Dean had to write a letter of explanation and apology to my parents and me.

I graduated on time and passed the Alabama Bar exam on my first attempt.

My First NAACP Case

The first case the NAACP assigned to me was the biggest one of my legal career and my personal favorite. 

On November 26, 1976, I won a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama for Clarence Norris -- the last known surviving “Scottsboro Boy."  The nine Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused in 1931 of raping two white girls on a freight train running through Paint Rock, Alabama.  All were arrested, tried, convicted of rape, and sentenced to death on multiple occasions.  The U.S. Supreme Court saved the Scottsboro Boys on three occasions within hours of their scheduled execution. 

Clarence Norris (far left) and the other eight "Scottsboro Boys" were arrested in 1931 in Paint Rock, Alabama and falsely accused of raping two white women.

The Clarence Norris pardon was based upon a finding of “innocence” of the criminal charge of rape, as proclaimed by the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board.  This was the first pardon ever granted by the state to a person who was originally sentenced to death and who was later declared innocent of the charges for which he was convicted.

The Boys's ordeal in Alabama's prison system was horrendous.  The Boys were repeatedly beaten and abused by jailers after their arrest, before their trials, after their trials, and during their imprisonment. Despite these beatings, they never broke. The Boys always maintained their innocence.

After each round of guilty verdicts by all-white Alabama juries, the Boys were forced to build their own coffins and lie in them while guards urinated on them.

It took me two long and heart-breaking years to secure the pardon for Clarence Norris. The state of Alabama's resistance to our pardon request was massive and ugly. The death threats I received for representing Clarence Norris were endless. In the end, we prevailed.

The pardon ended a 45-year ordeal by the last-known surviving Scottsboro Boy to clear their names.  In 2013, the state granted posthumous pardons to three of the other Boys.

A Sense of Pride

The Clarence Norris pardon case gave my father the greatest sense of pride in his son’s legal career, which was filled with landmark court victories and ended with a 217-8 win-loss record in courtroom trials.

Scottsboro Boy Clarence Norris (left) celebrated his pardon with Dr. Levi Watkins (right) in the President's office at Alabama State University on November 29, 1976. My father told me the story of the Scottsboro Boys when I was a young boy. I never forgot it. This was the case that motivated me to become a lawyer. My father was extremely proud that I was the attorney who cleared the names of Mr. Norris and the other eight Scottsboro Boys 45 years after their arrest.

Every November 29th, I quitely celebrate the anniversary of the Norris pardon with my father, who is in Heaven, and my family.  By far, the Clarence Norris pardon is the greatest and most satisfying personal accomplishment in my legal career.

Today, I see the never-ending battles for justice continuing into the future, with no end in sight. These battles are just as cruel, ugly, and vicious as they were in the 1970s. This time, there are very few lawyers who are qualified, capable, and committed to fighting and winning them.