Thomas E. Knight, Jr. (June 19, 1898 – May 17, 1937) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1935 to 1937, as well as the 19th Attorney General of Alabama from 1931 to 1935. He was a native of Greensboro, Alabama.
Knight was the prosecutor in the Scottsboro trials in the 1930s; as the Attorney General, he also represented the State before the United States Supreme Court in the three cases stemming from the trials: Powell v. Alabama, in 1932; and Norris v. Alabama and Patterson v. Alabama, both in 1935.[1]
Knight died suddenly on May 17, 1937, in Montgomery, Alabama, due to complications from kidney and liver conditions.[2]
Popular culture
Knight was portrayed by actor Bill Sage in the 2006 movie Heavens Fall, opposing Timothy Hutton, starring as Scottsboro Boys defense attorney Samuel Leibowitz.
Knight was portrayed by actor Ken Kercheval in the 1976 TV movie Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys.
External links
- Biography Archived 2018-11-28 at the Wayback Machine by the Alabama Department of Archives & History
- Biography by UMKC School of Law
References
- ^ "ALABAMA PLANNING NEW INDICTMENTS; Lieut. Governor Knight Awaits Supreme Court Order in Scottsboro Cases". The New York Times. 1935-04-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
- ^ "LIEUT. GOV. KNIGHT DEAD IN ALABAMA; Prosecutor of the Famous Scottsboro Case Is Stricken in Montgomery at 39 WAS ATTORNEY GENERAL The Conviction Obtained in First Trial of Negroes Upheld by His Father, a State Jurist Against Outside Interference Chosen to Prosecute". The New York Times. 1937-05-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
