The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
guilty before my friend Judge Crowe, and he was
put to death. And that is all. In the history of
Cook County that is all that have been put to death
on a plea of guilty. That is all.
Since that time one other man has been sentenced
to death on a plea of guilty. That was James H.
Smith, twenty-eight years old, sentenced by Judge
Kavanagh. But we were spared his hanging. That
was in January, 1923. I could tell you why he was
sentenced to die. It was due to the cruelty that has
paralyzed the hearts of men growing out of the
war. We are accustomed to blood, your Honor. It
used to look mussy, and make us feel squeamish.
But we have not only seen it shed in buckets full,
we have seen it shed in rivers, lakes and oceans, and
we have delighted in it; we have preached it, we
have worked for it, we have advised it, we have
taught it to the young, encouraged the old, until
the world has been drenched in blood, and it has left
its stains upon every human heart and upon every
human mind, and has almost stifled the feelings of
pity and charity that have their natural home in
the human breast.
I do not believe that Judge Kavanagh would ever
have done this except for the great war which has
left its mark on all of us, one of the terrible byproducts
of those wretched years. This man was
reprieved, but James Smith was twenty-eight years
old; he was old enough to vote, he was old enough
to make contracts, he needed no guardian, he was
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