How Did Al Capone Have On Chicago

“I am pleading for the future; I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by reason and judgement and understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and that mercy is the highest attribute of man” (Eidenmuller). Clarence Darrow, a criminal defense lawyer, said these words in a Chicago courtroom in September of 1924 where his summation for one of his most famous trials lasted for 12 hours, and this trial was that of Leopold and Loeb. Leopold and Loeb were two 18 year old boys who dreamed of and committed what they thought was the perfect crime, the kidnapping and murder of 14 year old Bobby Franks, which they were soon later caught and charged for. Even though Leopold and Loeb

Al Capone came to Chicago in 1919 at 20 years old and became one of the city’s most successful gangsters in 3 years while attacking and defying prohibition (Karamanski). Al Capone, being one of the top gangsters, committed many crimes which involved disregarding the prohibition and many other gang related crimes. But Capone’s success and legacy left a hold on Chicago. Before Capone, Chicago was always worried about its reputation but after, Capone and other criminals turned Chicago against its reputation and pushed Hollywood to enforce a gangster image on the city (Karamanski). Chicago didn’t wanted to be seen as a crime and gangster ridden city, but the acts of many criminals, including Al Capone, established Hollywood’s gangster image of Chicago, which the city would never be able to get rid of. Chicago in the 1920s will always be visualized with crime and gangsters

Clarence Darrow was a criminal defense lawyer who would be defending both Leopold and Loeb, he was famed and known for many things, “Victories in a series of spectacular trials, many of them desperate cases made him a national figure, especially his defense of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold in Chicago in 1924… By introducing psychiatric evidence, a novelty at the time, and invoking a sense of pity for the inscrutable human predicament, Darrow cast a spell over the courtroom” (Foner). A strong disbeliever in the death penalty, Darrow instructed Leopold and Loeb to plead ‘not guilty’ in order to avoid death row. They were both directed to plead they were mentally diseased, to which Darrow brought extensive psychiatric evidence, many mental ‘diseases’ of the time (emotional immaturity, alcohol abuse, glandular abnormalities, sexual longings, etc.) and even brought countless witnesses to attest to the mental ‘diseases’ of the two boys (User). Even though state issued psychiatrists saw normal emotional responses in both Leopold and Loeb and no physical bias for mental abnormality, two weeks later the judge announced his decision and sentenced the two 18 year old boys to life in prison instead of being put to death (User). Darrow had succeeded, his 12-hour summation