ion been offered to lessen a sentence. Such evidence had heretofore been used exclusively to show that a defendant was insane, not responsible for his actions, and thus not subject to punishment”(Higdon 164). In order to prove that Leopold and Loeb were mentally ill, Darrow consulted the best psychiatrists in the world including the head of the largest mental institution in the country (St. Elizabeth’s in Washington) and the President of the American Psychiatric Association. These physical, neurological, educational, social, and mental studies of the two boys became the foundation for the defense (Aymar 362-363). Along with psychiatric testimony to support the veracity of Leopold and Loeb’s impaired mental conditions, Darrow pointed out several moral and ethical reasons why the boys should not be sentenced to death. In a provocative tone of voice, Darrow brought to the forefront the consequences of sentencing Nathan and Richard to death. He said, “If these two boys die on the scaffold, which I can never bring myself to imagine,-- if they do die on the scaffold, the details of this will be spread over the world. Every newspaper in the United States will carry a full account. Every newspaper in Chicago will be filled with the gruesome details. It will enter every home and family”(UMKC). In such an ominous manner of speech, Darrow urged the judge not to plague America with such gruesome details of the crime. He continued this point further by emphasizing the inhumanity involved with the death penalty. “Do I need to argue to your Honor that cruelty only breeds cruelty? —that hatred only causes hatred; that if there is any way to soften this human heart which is hard enough at its best, if there is any way to kill evil and hatred and all that goes with it, it is not through evil and hatred and cruelty; it is through charity, and love and understanding”(UMKC).Darrow tried vigorously ...
