Clarence Willi Norris, last surviving member of the Scottsboro Boys, died at age 76 whiel a patient at the Bronx Community Hospital. Norris was one of nine African American teenagers accused of the 1931 rape of two white prostitutes in Alabama. The case was tried several times between 1931 and 1937 ending only after one woman recanted her charge. Norris spent 15 years in prison before being paroled. Once freed, Norris left Alabama for New York. He was pardoned by the state of Alabama in 1976 after the state parole board determined his innocence.
