CBA Record March-April 2023

A Passion for Justice: An Encounter with Clarence Darrow By Kathryn C. Liss, CBA Record Editorial Board Member and CBA Secretary

his railroad job in 1894 and the next year ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress. On the personal front, he was known to be quite flirtatious; he was divorced by 1897. In 1898, Darrow defended three labor leaders who were accused of conspiracy arising out a strike (State of Wisconsin v. Thomas I. Kidd, George Zentner and Michael Troiber). All three defendants were acquitted after the jury deliberated for less than one hour. Darrow’s profes sional reputation continued to grow. In 1903, Darrow married his second wife, Ruby, whom he credited with help ing him mature into a “big-shot attorney.” In 1907, Darrow represented the West ern Federation of Miners leaders William Haywood, Charles Moyer, and George Pettibone after they were arrested and charged with conspiring to murder the former Idaho Governor. During the trial, he used a tactic to distract jurors from the prosecution’s argument: he put a wire into his cigar so the ash would never drop. The jurors were riveted on Darrow’s cigar ash, not the prosecution’s argument. Two of the defendants were acquitted; charges were dropped against the other. However, the stress of work took a toll on his health. Darrow became seriously ill in 1908 and spent six months in Cali fornia recuperating. His illness followed a stock market crash in which Darrow and his wife lost quite a bit of money (Darrow blamed his wife for the loss). He was now sick, broke, and struggling to regain his public reputation after being a recluse for a period of months. In 1911, when the American Federa tion of Labor asked Darrow to defend the McNamara brothers who were charged in the Los Angeles Times bombing, he felt like his hands were tied – he needed the money so he said yes, even though he knew the brothers were guilty and the union wanted them to be innocent. During this case, the intense pressure of serving his clients, regaining his profes sional reputation, improving (or at least maintaining) his health, and reestablish ing his finances took a personal toll. Days before the McNamara case was finalized, Darrow was arrested and

Pictured from left: First Vice President Ray J. Koenig III, Clark Hill; CBA President Timothy S. Tomasik, Tomasik Kotin Kasserman LLC; Paul Morella; Justice Anne Burke (ret.); and Second Vice President John C. Sciaccotta, Aronberg Goldgehn.

C larence Darrow (1857-1938) is widely recognized as one of the most influential American lawyers of the 20th century for his pas sionate defense of civil rights. His legal career and personal life have been widely documented in books, articles, and plays, including the one-person play written and acted by Paul Morella hosted recently by the CBA at the Union League Club. In addition to highlighting the large, national cases that Darrow tried, Morella’s 90-minute performance provided depth and insight into Darrow’s complexity as an individual. Much of the performance was based on Darrow’s own words; the remainder was taken from his writings and court records. Darrow was inspiring, captivating, and intelligent. But like all of us, he was also flawed and troubled. Morella’s per formance deftly showcased both Dar row’s public litigator persona as well as the human side that most people are not aware of. For example, Darrow said he

became an attorney because he felt others’ pain. Although he did not consider this ability a gift, his high emotional intelli gence allowed him to successfully repre sent the “weak and oppressed.” Born in Ohio, Darrow was the fifth of eight children. He was bright and loved to read, but he never received the approval he desperately wanted from his parents and teachers. This background motivated him to be successful in his career, even to the detriment of his own personal life. In Darrow’s own words, “heredity and envi ronment make a man who they are; not free will.” At age 23 Darrow married a neighbor, and they had one son. Darrow moved his family to Chicago eight years later to grow his law practice. He eventually became an attorney for the City. After working in the City law department for two years, he took a position as a lawyer at the Chicago and North-Western Railway Company, earning a reputation as a great orator and debater along the way. He quit

14 March/April 2023