1932 - Human Rights, Social Justice

Human Rights, Social Justice

Josef Stalin cracks down in the Ukraine and Caucasus on kulaks who resist collectivization (see 1928). He sends in troops to requisition all foodstuffs and prevents trains carrying food from reaching the areas.

Brazil, Uruguay, Siam (Thailand), and the Maldives give women the right to vote on the same basis as men. Puerto Rican women gain voting rights for the first time.

The U.S. Supreme Court reverses last year's Scottsboro convictions, ruling 7 to 2 November 7 in some landmark decisions that defendants in capital cases in state courts must have adequate legal representation (Patterson v. Alabama, Powell v. Alabama, Weems v. Alabama). The trials of the Scottsboro youths violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court rules (see 1933; Betts v. Brady, 1942).