Clarence Seward Darrow
By Katherine Chambers
Bio
Clarence Darrow was a labor and Criminal Lawyer in the 1920's. He is mostly known for defending the school teacher John Scopes in the very famous Scopes Trial. Clarence Darrow was a very strong opinionated man willing to defend for what he thought was right to the very end. He believed the capital punishment was wrong and "barbaric", He also believed in intellectual freedom. He was known for defending the "underdogs". In one of his famous cases, the 1924 Leopold-Loeb case, he had his clients plead guilty for the murder of a youngster, but he fought for them to not get the death penalty. He was successful in this and it was one of the main high lights of his career. Of course, another highlight of his career was the Scopes trial. Because of his belief in intellectual freedom, he strongly defended the point of allowing Darwinism to be taught in school. He technically did not win the case. But the case gathered major attention to the topic and caused it to be a real issue. Now a days it is required to teach evolution in school, so Darrow may have lost that case but all in all he kind of still won in the end. Clarence Darrow will be remembered as one of the most influential American lawyers in our history.
Impact on the 1920's
Clarence Darrow made people believe that they should stand up and fight for what they think is right and have strong opinon and be able to express that opinon. He brought light to the cruel capital punishment in the justice system.
Scoopes trial
This is Clarence Darrow in action during the Scopes Trial.
Leopold Loeb case
These are the two men that Clarence Darrow defended in Leopold Loeb case.
Attorney for the Dammed
This is one of the first books written about Clarence in the 1920's and made him more well known.
Clarence Darrow speaks on Crime
Video
This is audio of Clarence Darrow speaking on the hard topics of the 1920's