The Facts And Legal Issues In Mary Phagan's Case

I. The Facts and Legal Issues
On April 27, 1913, Mary Phagan, a thirteen-year-old girl, was found strangled on the floor of the National Pencil Factory in Marietta, Alabama. While originally the guard of the factory was questioned for the murder; Leo Frank, the factory's manager, was tried and convicted for the murder. Frank was indicted for the murder of Mary Phagan by the grand jury; then, was sent to trial where he was officially convicted for the murder and sentenced the death penalty. However, Frank's legal team persisted on the behalf of his innocence and sought retrial until his case was denied from every level of the procedural system. After multiple denials, the case was brought to the governor where his sentence was reduced from the death penalty to life imprisonment.
On May 24, 1924, two young men by the names of Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb kidnapped and murdered Bobby Franks a fourteen-year-old boy at random. Their families hired famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow. Unexpectedly, Darrow approach was to plead guilty to kidnapping for ransom and first-degree murder. However, he successfully fought for a life

Publications such as the Jeffersonian written by Thomas E. Watson were released that favored the prosecution of Leo Frank. While, Jewish communities, from both North and South, united to speak on the injustice and racism carried out during the trial. Following the trial, the rise and second coming of the Ku Klux Klan emerged in Georgia. The anti-Semitism movement continued to spread throughout the South, although the Jewish community continued to stand strong with multiple publications of the injustice of the Leo Frank trial. Many politicians, publications, lawyers, and judges refused to either help or side with Leo Frank based off of his Jewish heritage. This bias led to a long critical trial in which an innocent man was wrongfully convicted for