Overview

A famous defender of the underdog, the oppressed, and the powerless, Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) is one of the true legends of the American legal system. His cases were many and various, but all were marked by his unequivocal sense of justice, as well as his penchant for representing infamous and unpopular clients, such as the Chicago thrill killers Leopold and Loeb; Ossian Sweet, the African American doctor charged with murder after fighting off a violent, white mob in Detroit; and John T. Scopes, the teacher on trial in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial. Published for the first time in 1957, Attorney for the Damned collects Darrow’s most influential summations and supplements them with scene-setting explanations and comprehensive notes by Arthur Weinberg. Darrow confronts issues that remain relevant over half a century after his death: First Amendment rights, capital punishment, and the separation of church and state. With an insightful forward by Justice William O. Douglas, this volume serves as a powerful reminder of Darrow’s relevance today.

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9780226136509

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"""That Clarence Darrow was the great protagonist of that age, no one would deny.... In the present volume, Mr. Weinberg wisely permits him to speak for himself."" (American Bar Association Journal) ""All of Clarence Darrow's most celebrated pleas are here.... As Justice William O. Douglas observes in an appreciative foreword, 'His arguments are a full orchestration carrying great power in cold print' - despite, it might be added, their homespun, gallus-hitching style. The ghastly comedy of his deadpan interrogation of William Jennings Bryan on the origin of man in the Scopes case is particularly recommended."" (New Yorker)"""

That Clarence Darrow was the great protagonist of that age, no one would deny.... In the present volume, Mr. Weinberg wisely permits him to speak for himself. (American Bar Association Journal) All of Clarence Darrow's most celebrated pleas are here.... As Justice William O. Douglas observes in an appreciative foreword, 'His arguments are a full orchestration carrying great power in cold print' - despite, it might be added, their homespun, gallus-hitching style. The ghastly comedy of his deadpan interrogation of William Jennings Bryan on the origin of man in the Scopes case is particularly recommended. (New Yorker)

Author Information

Arthur Weinberg (1915-89) was the Lloyd Lewis Fellow in American History at the New-berry Library in Chicago. He was coauthor, with Lila Weinberg, of The Muckrakers, Verdicts Out of Court, and Clarence Darrow: A Sentimental Rebel, among other books.

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