The Great Trials of Clarence Darrow: The Landmark Cases of Leopold and Loeb, John T. Scopes, and Ossian Sweet

An excellent book, this is another book about Clarence Darrow and his trials. It is amazing that a man with his values remains one of the most admired men of America. He was not in favor of capitol punishment; he also denounced prejudice and extol!ed science. He has remained one of the most admired men of the country for the past 125 years.

If you are are looking for a great introduction to Clarence Darrow, this is a good start on your way. There are a few overpersonalized accounts that may be a bit dramatized, but the facts are here and give you a start on the path to discovering the man, the career and the cases

I loved reading about Darrow and his trials. They helped make America greater. He really was for the silent majjotill

When Donald McRae paints a word picture of Darrow in the courtroom, he writes a compelling story. While most people think of Clarence Darrow defending evolution in the famous "Monkey Trial", McRae expands the picture to show the sequence of two other trials, famous in their own time and still resonant today.The first is the defense of two cold-blooded murderers, Leopold and Loeb, both sons of Chicago millionaires, whose illicit homosexual love affair led them to kill a 14-year old neighbor boy, pour acid on his body and stuff it into a culvert. With the whole nation crying for the execution of the two 19-year olds, Darrow, a staunch opponent of capital punishment, takes the case and succeeds in saving their lives. McRae makes us fascinated with this crime and notes that the wealthy fathers stiff the famous lawyer on his legal fees.The second trial of Kentuckian John T. Scopes for the teaching of evolution in the Tennessee schools gives us a colorful cast of characters. Although Darrow didn't get his client off, he won in the court of public opinion by showcasing the narrow-mindedness of the anti-evolution forces.In the third trial, Darrow defends a black man on a charge of murder in Detroit. Dr. Ossian Sweet, a doctor who had studied in Europe, had bought the corner house in a white neighborhood. On the first night in the house, an angry mob congregates outside the house, but nothing serious happens. On the second night, Dr. Sweet, his college student brother, a dentist and two insurance salesmen are in the house to keep watch. Stones are thrown, a window is broken and suddenly a shot rings out from the upper windows of the house. One of the men outside the house falls dead -- and it falls to Darrow to convince an all-white jury that the men in the house acted in self defense.These are absolutely riveting cases, but the author undercuts all pretense of making this a serious biography by overemphasizing Darrow's extra-marital involvement with Mary Field Parton. McRae lavishes page after mawkish page on Mary without convincing the reader that she has any true importance in Darrow's life. They had an affair, then she married someone else, gave up her journalism career and raised a daughter. She saw him in Chicago before the trial of Loeb and Leopold, but Darrow refused her the "inside scoop" she was hoping would revive her journalism career. While she continued to carry a torch for the much older Darrow, it seems apparent from McRae's narrative facts that she was nothing more than a footnote in Darrow's life. McRae seems to put Mary Parton forward because she is all he has in the way of "new" material. While it is interesting to learn that the famous lawyer was a jerk in private life, that is less surprising to the modern reader than Darrow's conviction that he could use the law to fight for the oppressed. This might serve the reader as an introduction, but don't take this for a definitive biography.

Loved the portions reciting Darrow’s cross-examinations and closing arguments. Should motivate any attorney to work on developing both those skills.