Clarence Darrow
- Darrow redirects here. Charles Darrow patented the board game Monopoly
Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for having defended teenaged thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14 year old Bobby Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey" Trial (1925), opposing the famous prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. He remains famous for his wit, compassion and agnosticism that have marked him as one of the most famous American lawyers and civil libertarians.
From Corporate Lawyer to Labor Lawyer
Darrow began his career as a lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio, where he was first admitted to the profession (Judge Alfred W. Mackey). He subsequently moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he soon became a corporations lawyer for the railroad company. His next move was to "cross the tracks," when he switched sides to represent Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the American Railway Union in the Pullman Strike of 1894. Darrow had conscientiously resigned his corporate position in order to represent Debs, making a substantial financial sacrifice in order to do this.
Darrow defended Bill Haywood, the leader of the Industrial Workers of the World and the Western Federation of Miners, who was acquitted of charges of being involved in the murder of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg in 1905. His next notable case was the defense of the MacNamara Brothers, who were charged with dynamiting the Los Angeles Times building during the bitter struggle over the open shop in Southern California, resulting in the deaths of 20 employees.
When Darrow saw the weight of the evidence against the brothers he convinced them to change their plea to guilty and was able to plea bargain prison sentences instead of the death penalty.
From Labor Lawyer to Criminal Lawyer
A further consequence of the bribery charges was that the labor unions dropped Darrow from their list of preferred attorneys. This effectively put Darrow out of business as a labor lawyer, and he switched to acting in criminal cases.
Throughout his career, Darrow devoted himself to opposing the death penalty, which he felt to be in conflict with humanitarian progress. In more than 100 cases, Darrow only lost one murder case in Chicago. He became renowned for moving juries and even judges to tears with his eloquence. Though Darrow's formal education was limited, he did study for one year at the University of Michigan Law School and had a keen intellect often shielded by his rumpled, unassuming appearance.
A July 23, 1915 article in the Chicago Tribune describes Darrow's effort on behalf of J.H. Fox--an Evanston, IL landlord--to have Mary S. Brazelton committed to an insane asylum against the wishes of her family. Fox alleged that Brazelton owed him rent money although other residents of Fox's boarding house testified to her sanity.
Leopold and Loeb
In 1924 Darrow took on the case of Leopold and Loeb, the teenage sons of two wealthy Chicago families, who were accused of kidnapping and killing Bobby Franks, a 14 year old boy, to see what it would be like to commit the ultimate crime. Darrow convinced them to plead guilty and then argued for his clients to receive life in prison rather than the dealth penalty.
Darrow based his argument on the claim that his clients weren't completely responsible for their actions, but were the products of the environment they grew up in. Arguing to the judge, Darrow pleaded:
Your Honor stands between the past and the future. You may hang these boys; you may hang them by the neck until they are dead. But in doing it you will turn your face toward the past. In doing it you are making it harder for every other boy who in ignorance and darkness must grope his way through the mazes which only childhood knows. In doing it you will make it harder for unborn children.
Based on the young defendant's age, Darrow's argument and other factors, the judge sentenced Leopold and Loeb to life in prison rather than sending them to be executed.
During the Leopold-Loeb trial, when Darrow was believed to have accepted "a million-dollar fee", many ordinary Americans were angered at his apparent betrayal. In truth, Darrow and his two co-counsels were given $40,000 to split three ways after being denied payments for months by Leopold-Loeb family.
Scopes (Monkey) Trial
In 1925, Darrow defended John Scopes in the famous "Monkey Trial."
The Scopes Trial of 1925 pitted against each other lawyers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow (the latter representing teacher John T. Scopes) in an American court case that tested a law passed on March 13, 1925, which forbade the teaching, in any state-funded educational establishment in Tennessee, of "any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals". This is often interpreted as meaning that the law forbade the teaching of any aspect of the theory of evolution. It has often been called the "Scopes Monkey Trial".
During the trial, Darrow requested that Byran be called to the stand as an expert witness on the Bible. Over the other prosecutor's objection, Bryan agreed. Many believe that the following exchange caused the trial to turn against Bryan and for Darrow:
"You have given considerable study to the Bible, haven't you, Mr. Bryan?"
"Yes, sir; I have tried to ... But, of course, I have studied it more as I have become older than when I was a boy."
"Do you claim then that everything in the Bible should be literally interpreted?"
"I believe everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there ..."
Darrow continued to question Bryan on the actuality of Jonah and the whale, Joshua's making the sun stand still and the Tower of Babel, as Bryan began to have more difficulty answering.
Q: "Do you think the earth was made in six days?"
A: "Not six days of 24 hours ... My impression is they were periods ..."
Q: "Now, if you call those periods, they may have been a very long time?"
A: "They might have been."
Q: "The creation might have been going on for a very long time?"
A: "It might have continued for millions of ..."
Ossian Sweet
In 1925, he defended Henry Sweet, a young black man living in Detroit with his brother, Dr. Ossian Sweet, in the shooting death of a member of a white mob. The mob of at least a 1,000 people had gathered outside Dr. Sweet's home to force him to move from the neighborhood. Eleven people were originally charged with the murder, and after the first trial ended in a mistrial, Darrow requested separate trials for each defendant and Henry Sweet's was the first. Darrow referred to the trial as one of his best argued, finishing with a legendary eight-hour impassioned closing argument which won acquittal for Henry Sweet from the eleven-man jury, shocking the city. Following the acquittal, charges against the remaining defendants were dropped.
Massie Trial
After the 1925 Scopes Trial, Clarence Darrow largely retired from practice, emerging only occasionally to undertake cases, such as the 1932 Massie Trial in Hawaii.
Books By Darrow
A volume of Darrow's boyhood Reminiscences, entitled "Farmington," was published in Chicago in 1903 by McClurg and Company.
Darrow shared offices with Edgar Lee Masters, who achieved more fame for his poetry, in particular the Spoon River Anthology, than for his advocacy. Darrow also took Eugene V. Debs as a partner, following his release from prison.
Works About Darrow
After his death, a full-length one man play was created, featuring Darrow's reminiscences about his career. Originated by Henry Fonda, many actors, including Leslie Nielsen, have since taken on the role of Darrow in this play. The Scopes Monkey trials were fictionalized in another play, entitled "Inherit the Wind." This was later turned into a film. Darrow is also mentioned in the musical, "Lil Abner".
References
The Story of My Life, Clarence Darrow
Darrow Bribery Trial
After representing the MacNamera, Darrow was charged with two counts of attempting to bribe jurors. Interestingly, the case settled and the MacNamera brothers plead guilty so the jurors never made a decision on the case.
Despite being acquited in both trial, he agreed to never practice law again in California.
External links
- The Trial of Bill Haywood - detailed account of the Bill Haywood murder trial
- Works by Clarence Darrow at Project Gutenberg
Books By Clarence Darrow
Persian Pearl
The Story fo My Life
Farmington
Resist Not Evil