The Leopold and Loeb case of 1924 is nationally recognized to be the first of its kind. It was a crime committed by two wealthy teenage boys, Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb, who committed murder with what seemed like no motive at all. This case was a catalyst for social interpretation as journalists played a major part in the discovery of details of the crime. Often time mixing fact with fiction, this case was talked about well beyond the years after it was laid to rest. Throughout the years there has been lots of speculation as to why Leopold and Loeb did what they did and many topics have been discussed; all the way from modern childhood to homosexuality. This case delved into every aspect of the boy’s lives and revealed new truths over time. The Leopold and Loeb case was never about the crime committed but more as how the journalists portrayed the boys in social media. Over time the case was interpreted as a sensationalist journey through an untypical crime that changed into a pop culture phenomenon that affected how crime and law is interpreted.
When the story of a kidnapped boy broke out on May 23, 1924 the mass media immediately began to develop a story about the crime. Journalists were major contributors to the solving of the crime. Two journalists, James Mulroy and Alvin Goldstein, won the Pulitzer Prize for their contributions. The journalists were the bases of public knowledge for the case and therefore had lots of power in influencing the public’s opinion. However because of this, journalist often crossed the line between fact and fiction. They used total coverage of this case—something they had never done before—and created a case with social interpretation and sensationalism. Any information they could get, t...
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...concept. During the trial women were locked out of the courthouse while the sexual relationship between the boys was discussed. Today, the sexuality of a person normally does not affect the public’s perception on a case.
Leopold and Loeb were just two boys who out of boredom and curiosity tried to create the perfect crime. Never did they believe the case would be as big as it got. The case brought on questions that affected popular culture as well as in law and in crime. The focus on the crime was more about the moral controversies instead of the crime itself, which led to an exploitation of the crime and the lives of Leopold and Loeb.
Works Cited
Fass, Paula S. "Making and Remaking an Event: The Leopold and Loeb Case in American Culture." The Journal of American History 80.3 (1993): 919-51. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .
...his seemingly routine case of fornication and premarital pregnancy proved to be significant for early American legal history. The unfolding of this story and the legal changes that it brought about makes evident that by the end of the seventeenth century, The Eastern Shore had shaped a distinct legal culture. The characters involved in each case also revealed the extent the powerful players were able to shape the law to their own self-interests. The goal of the powers to be was to protect property interests, protect personal reputation and liberty, and to maintain social order.
Billy Joel once sang, “Only the good die young”. In life, it is true, the young and innocent seem to touch more lives around us than anyone else. In the Casey Anthony trial, Anthony was a suspect in the murder of her daughter Caylee. Caylee’s life shouldn’t be counted in years, it should be counted by how many lives she affected, the love she has gained, and the support the country has given her to find out what really happened. In the play, Twelve Angry Men, a boy killed his father; however, both cases were challenged by the obvious and the abstruse evidence. Large cities towards the east coast, in 1982, Twelve Angry Men, and 2008, Casey Anthony Trial, affiliated with two major trials able to modify the lives of the living and the dead. For that reason, during the Casey Anthony case, jurors were conflicted throughout the trial.
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Facts and Case Summary: Morse v. Frederick. (n.d.). USCOURTSGOV RSS. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/constitution-activities/first-amendment/free-speech-school-conduct/facts-case-summary.aspx
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Therefore, this shows that the effect in which The Boston Globe had on the victims of child molestation was the reversal of their initial spiral of silence.
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Sayres, William G. “Compounding the Crime: Ingratitude and the Murder Conviction of Justine Moritz in Frankenstein.” Sayres, "Compounding the Crime", knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/sayres.html.
Research also suggests that the media is a major decider in what crime cases get chosen to air on the news. While it was previously thought that what went on the news was arbitrarily picked or based on the most interesting cases, it turns out that it is not quite the case. J...