The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
am through. Here is the State urging that your
Honor shall put these two boys to death. When the
State's Attorney prepared his case and presented it
to the Grand Jury, and presented the matters in ag-
gravation to your Honor, he could have very appro-
priately and honorably stopped, without urging that
there should be a maximum sentence. But he won't.
He will go on and urge that your Honor ought to
hang.
You are listening for the last time in this case to
anybody on the part of the defense, humbly, may it
please your Honor, frankly begging and pleading
that you let the defendants live and not bring upon
their families the great anxiety, bitterness and suf-
fering that their deaths upon the gallows would
bring.
I thank your Honor for your patience.
Speech oj Robert E. Crowe
May it Please Your Honor:
BEFORE
entering into a discussion of the case
at bar I desire to express our appreciation for
the uniform courtesy and patience with which your
Honor has treated me and the representatives of my
office.
Our conduct in this case has been criticised by
the defense. We ought not to refer to two murder-
ers who have pleaded guilty to two capital offenses
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