Leopold And Loeb: The Crime Of The Century

The Leopold and Loeb case was widely regarded as “the Crime of the Century” due to the duo’s perceived intellectual and physical superiority, otherwise known as übermensch, a complete disregard for property, “laws, and human life, and the profound effects this case had on the twentieth century legal system, as well as social norms of the next century (CM).” From an early age, both of the duo had an almost detrimental interest in crime, with Leopold wanting to commit crimes, while Loeb only wanted to read Sherlock Holmes novellas. This was not helped by Leopold’s belief in Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy of Übermensch, or the Overman or Superman. This philosophy, among others, is that the Übermensch, is the “final posit for mankind, and holds

The judge and committee presiding over the case had to be careful, as “In its eagerness to send Leopold and Loeb to the hangman, the press was not the least interested in uncovering the conditions that had led two extremely promising scholars to commit murder. To do so would have pointed to some rather unpleasant truths about American society. In addition, a show of mercy toward Leopold and Loeb risked the danger of encouraging demands by less privileged defendants for similar consideration. (WSWS)” Because of this, the court had two choices, oust the American elite as less than perfect, or risk the lower and middle classes pushing for similar rights, comparable to those of the wealthy elite. Both of these choices were not ideal choices, but in the case of the courts, they took the lesser of two evils, and chose to take a less harsh stance on the two teenagers. Instead of the death penalty, they were sentenced to life, and 99 years, with possibility of

By exposing to the American public that it’s wealthy elite were not perfect as they were once perceived, and that they now would have comparable protections. Not only was the way the Judicial system viewed as by the American public thoroughly changed, but certain socio-political elements of American culture had changed along with it. No longer would the the middle and lower classes be held to a lesser extent, but at the same level of the wealthy elite of America. So, while the Leopold and Loeb case, while tragic for the parties involved, was a turning point for not only the legal system in the United States, it was also a turning point for some socio-political aspects of the American populace as well, and very well deserves it’s title as the “Crime of the