The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
mercy as being the one thing which he is sure should
control his judgment of men.
For life! Where is the human heart that would
not be satisfied with that? Where is the one who
understands his own life and who has a particle of
feeling that could ask for more? Any cry for more
roots back to the hyena; it roots back to the hissing
serpent; it roots back to the beast and the jungle.
It is not a part of that feeling of mercy and pity and
understanding of each other which we believe has
been slowly raising man from his low estate. It is
not a part of the finer instincts which are slow to
develop; of the wider knowledge which is slow to
come, and slow to move us when it comes. It is
not a part of all that makes the best there is in man.
It is not a part of all that promises any hope for the
future and any justice for the present. And must
I ask that these boys get mercy by spending the rest
of their lives in prison, year following year, month
following month, and day following day, with noth-
ing to look forward to but hostile guards and stone
walls? It ought not to be hard to get that much
mercy in any court in the year 1924.
These boys left this body down in the culvert and
they came back.
They got their dinners. They parked the bloody
automobile in front of Leopold's house. They
cleaned it to some extent that night and left it
standing in the street in front of their home.
" Oriented," of course. " Oriented." They left
143