The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
Judge Crowe about it until the night before Judge
Crowe made his opening statement in this case. Six
weeks after he heard it, long after the time he said
that he made a record of it, and there was not a
single word or syllable about this matter in any
report he made.
I am sorry to discuss it; I am sorry to embarrass
this court, but what can I do? I want your Honor
to know that if in your judgment you think these
boys should hang, we will know it is your judgment.
It is hard enough, for a court to sit where you sit,
with the eyes of the world upon you, in the fierce
heat of public opinion, for and against. It is hard
enough, without any lawyer making it harder. I
assure you it is with deep regret that I even mention
the evidence, and I will say no more about it, ex-
cepting that this statement was deliberately false,
and his own evidence shows it.
Now, your Honor, I have spoken about the war.
I believed in it. I don't know whether I was crazy
or not. Sometimes I think perhaps I was. I joined
in the general cry. I urged men to fight, I was
safe because I was too old to go. For four long
years the civilized world was engaged in killing men.
Christian against Christian, barbarians uniting with
Christians to kill Christians; anything to kill. It
was taught in every school, aye in the Sunday
schools. The little children played at war. Do you
suppose this world has ever been the same since
then? How long, your Honor, will it take for the
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