Leopold and Loeb

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses the murder of fourteen year old Bobby Franks and the subsequent arrest and trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. The writer notes that this issue was heavy on the minds of the public in 1924, as the sensationalism of this extreme case was evident even to those who were closest to it. The rest of the public, in Chicago and elsewhere, could rely heavily on exhaustive journalism to give them the information they sought about the events. The purpose of this work is to assess the similarities and differences between press accounts in Chicago and elsewhere. One would assume they all printed the facts as they knew them, but they also had varied conceptions of the trial that demonstrate regional differences in public opinion. Further, the writer points out that the argument was not over the guilt or innocence of the murderers or the base innocence of the victim, but it was over the controversial new science of psychology or as it was then known psychotherapy. The writer maintains that newspapers all over the nation, through the Leopold and Loeb case, played out the controversies of the science of the mind, while the more conservative set it aside, the urban papers detailed the science as luridly as print would allow.

From the Paper:

"The controversy was replayed extensively, in all the major cities. Each journalistic report seeking information that others had not focused on, the most damning of which being the early life of the defendants, as they were described as neglected by privilege and allowed to live as if they had no responsibilities, and rarely had supervision, beyond the supervision of governesses and in Leopold's case the perverse supervision of at least one governess, who introduced lurid sexuality into his mind and life, "She entered Leopold's life when he was just fourteen. The record is rather vague as to her antecedents but clear enough as to the fact that she was a pervert, who initiated Leopold into the practices of and submissions to various types of sexual perversion." Loeb on the other had had strict governesses that created in him the desire to be secretive and deceptive to avoid censure. All of this was fodder for the press, and the urban newspapers in Chicago and New York played upon the early lives of the boys, as the "experts" findings were distributed for publishing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abrahamsen, David. The Psychology of Crime. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
• "ALIENIST DECLARES LEOPOLD AND LOEB ARE DEVOID OF SOUL; Quotes One as Saying He Could Think of Killing Just Like Choosing Pie." New York Times August 5, 1924; 1.
• Busch, Francis X. Prisoners at the Bar: An Account of the Trials of the William Haywood Case, the Sacco-Vanzetti Case, the Loeb-Leopold Case, the Bruno Hauptmann Case. 1st ed. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1952.
• Cannon, Carl M. "The Problem with the Chair - A Conservative Case against Capital Punishment." National Review 19 June; 1.
• "FRANKS TO LEAVE FUND TO FIGHT TWO SLAYERS; Father of Bobby Provides for Vigilance After His Death Against Their Release." New York Times October 20, 1924 6.

More papers on Leopold and Loeb:

• Argumentative Essay # 41972 : "Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of Compulsion"
• Essay # 27194 : "Juvenile Crime"
• Essay # 3676 : "The 1920s"

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