The Trial: The Case Of Nathan Leopold And Richard Loeb

In 1924, the nation was shocked by the news of a kidnapping and murder in Chicago, Illinois. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two nineteen-year-olds from wealthy families, confessed to the brutal killing of the fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks. These two young men did not show any sign of remorse. Right off the bat Nathan and Richard readily admitted that they had been strategizing for some time to commit the perfect crime. Their plan was ruined when Leopold left his eyeglasses at the scene, which eventually led to their arrest. The public expressed outrage at the crime, with many declaring that the killers, popularly characterized as "spoiled brats," deserved the death penalty. Clarence Darrow took on the case of Leopold and Loeb,

Clarence Darrow earned a reputation known as a champion of the underdog through his defense of union leaders, antiwar activists, and others. He was

In the end, the judge sentenced Leopold and Loeb to life in prison rather than sending them to be executed. During the Leopold-Loeb trial, when Darrow was believed to have accepted "a million-dollar fee", many ordinary Americans were angered at his apparent betrayal, thinking that he had "sold-out." He issued a public statement stating that there would be no large legal fees and that his fees would be determined by a committee composed of officers from the Chicago Bar Association. Darrow's condemnation of the death penalty during his legendary 12-hour closing argument catalyzed a major reversal in American attitudes toward capital punishment. In the decades that followed, the number of U.S. executions, which had been rising steadily since the early 1800s, began a rapid