Verdicts Out of Court

by Arthur Weinberg, Lila Shaffer Weinberg (editor)

Edited by Arthur and Lila Weinberg. A remarkable collection of the great attorney's writings which reveal why he was such a force in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. Fascinating.... Whether Darrow is condemning capital punishment, questioning immortality, or extolling free trade, he is usually incisive, never boring, and always unafraid of speaking his mind. --William M. Kunstler, New York Times

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Jackson Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

People tend to forget that Clarence Darrow lost the Scopes case. They also tend to forget (or may not have known) that Darrow was an outspoken progressive humanist as well as a renown criminal defense lawyer.

This collection of essays, speeches, and debates demonstrates the breadth of Darrow's knowledge and the acuity of his thinking. In this book, Darrow addresses such topics as immigration, race relations, trade unionism, war and peace, religion, philosophy, and literature. Some of the writings are over one hundred years old and feel dated; most, however, are timeless.

In his old age, Darrow was a staunch defender of youth. He had little patience with geezers complaining that the kids of today are no good. We hear the same thing now. Darrow was right then; he would be right now as well.