The Loeb-Leopold case - The Clarence Darrow Collection

The Loeb-Leopold Case
Chief Justice of the Criminal Court makes it per-
fectly safe for them to murder, or are we going to
tell them that the law will be vigorously enforced?
The law, if your Honor please, is made to protect
the innocent, and it is made to protect the innocent
by punishing the guilty and in no other way can we
protect the innocent or protect society.
I think, if your Honor please, I have now covered
the three defenses set forth by Mr. Darrow, their
age, lack of motive, and physical and mental con-
dition.
When we get all through, Mr. Darrow says that
your Honor ought to be merciful and, finally, and
that is his concluding defense, he appeals to your
heart and your sympathy and not to your mind or
your conscience.
When I was listening to Mr. Darrow plead for
sympathy for these two men who showed no
sympathy, it reminded me of a story of Abraham
Lincoln's about a young boy about their age whose
parents were wealthy and he murdered both of them.
He was an only child and he did it so that he might
inherit their money. His crime was discovered the
same as this crime has been discovered, and the
court asked him for any reason he might have why
sentence of death should not be passed upon him
and he promptly replied that he hoped the court
would be lenient to a poor orphan. Robert Franks
had a right to live. He had a right to the society
of his family and his friends and they had a right
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