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.
Scott Peterson was an educated man from California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with a B.A. in Agricultural Business. He was married to his wife Laci Peterson who was also pregnant with their unborn son. In December of 2002 Laci Peterson went missing in the Modesto, California area where she shared a home with Scott. Once the investigation of Scott’s missing wife started authorities began to suspect Scott as a suspect in her disappearance. In April of 2003 a fetus and a female torso that was missing hands, feet, and a head were found on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay area was where Scott was boating the day of Laci’s disappearance. The body was later identified as Laci Peterson and the fetus as Laci and Scott’s unborn son. Scott was also arrested in the month of April shortly after the discovery of Laci and their son’s body and was later sentenced to the death penalty. Over the course of this paper I will cover the whole event of the disappearance of Laci Peterson, relating it to a sociological theory, the impact the event had on our society and how the media had influence over this national event.
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.
The Casey Anthony case was one that captured the heart of thousands and made it to the headline of national TV talk shows, newspapers, radio stations and social media networks for months. The root of the case was due to a clash between the parental responsibilities, the expectations that went with being a parent, and the life that Casey Anthony wanted to have. The case was in respect to the discovering the cause of Casey’s two-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony’s, death; however the emphasis was placed on Casey and her futile lies, which resulted in a public outcry. The purpose of this essay is to delve into the public atmosphere and inquire about why the media and social media collectively attacked the case by uncovering the content of the case, the charges that were laid, and later dismissed, the “performers” of the trial and the publics reaction. It will further discuss how it defies universal ideologies and how the media represents this. The discussion of the complexities of the case and its connotations will incorporate Stuart Hall’s Representation and the Media, Robert Hariman’s Performing the Laws, What is Ideology by Terry Eagleton, The Body of the Condemned by Michael Foucault, and a number of news articles, which will reveal disparate ideas of representation in the media, and the role of the performers of the law and their effect on the understanding of the case.
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
On April 19th, 1989, Trisha Meili was the victim of violent assault, rape, and sodomy. The vicious attack left her in a coma for 12 days and The New York Times described it as “one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980’s.” The documentary, The Central Park Five, reveals the truth about what happened the night of April 19th, and how the subordinate group of young black boys were wrongly convicted. Analyzing the conflict theory of crime in association to the case of the central park five, understanding the way they were treated based on setting, why it was so easy for the law enforcement to pin the crime on the young black boys, and how wrongly convicting someone has great consequences along with relating it
In the nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, the author tells a story of the murderers and victims of a slaughter case in Holcomb, Kansas. Instead of writing a book on the murder case as a crime report, the author decides to write about the people. The people we learn about are the killers, Dick and Perry, and the murdered family, the Clutters. The author describes how each family was and makes the portrayals of Dick and Perry’s family different from the Clutters.The portrayal of the Clutters and of Dick and Perry’s families, was used to describe what the American Dream was for each character. In the beginning we learn about what type of family the Clutters were and how they represented the American Dream for the people of Holcomb.
In the article, “The Sexual Contract, by Carole Pateman discusses the social contract that affects the legal system and how society treats each
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.
Woodward and Bernstein's undertaking constructed the cornerstone for the modern role of the media. The making of the movie about the Watergate Scandal and the ventures of the two journalists signify the importance of the media. The media’s role as intermediary is exemplified throughout the plot of the movie. The movie is the embodiment of journalism that guides future journalists to progress towards the truth, no matter what they are going up against. It was the endeavor of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that led them to the truth behind the president’s men. They showed that not even the president is able to deter the sanctity of journalism in its search of truth. The freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and people’s right to know account for the same truth that journalists pursue; the truth that democracy is alive and will persist to live on.
Both were very accomplished and brilliant, Leopold graduated from the University of Chicago,in 1923 he was set to leave for Harvard Law School,and Loeb graduated from Michigan University at the age of 17. With such promising futures before them, how could these “boys” as they were called, have killed innocent Bobby Franks and dumped his body in a rural culvert? With actions such as these who in their right mind would consider not giving these two “boys” the death penalty? To elaborate further, Leopold told police officers that they were disciples of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and, as Nietzschean “supermen”, were not bound by conventional. They said that they had killed Bobby Franks for the thrill of
From June 1994 through October 1995, the O.J. Simpson story took American culture by storm. The media were not just highly involved observers reporting on the scene, their presence, both inside and outside the courtroom, altered the course of justice from the trial itself. Subsequently, the media not only formed American consciousness regarding the case, but additionally, fueled a relentless political and racial discussion that encompassed spectators, reporters, the defense and prosecution tables, the witness stand, and the jury box. The media was more than just storytellers, they were storymakers. Although, they did report and investigate the case, moreover, they were instrumental in the creation. The storymakers shaped both the public's perception on the Simpson story and more significantly, on the trial itself. Once the trial
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.
The final thing that was illustrated in this film was self-concept. During this time, the publishing companies never fully investigated scandals independently because they lacked facts and didn’t want to go out of business. In other words, they only reported on events that they had clear information for which was usually published in other companies as well. Because the two reporters fully under covered the scandal with full confidence and defied the odds against their editors and the government, they had a very high sense of
I watched the documentary the Perfect Crime: In Love with Murder. It portrays Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb who killed Loeb’s cousin fourteen-year-old Bobby Frank. This documentary also included their trial with the prosecutor Robert Crowe and defense attorney Clarence Darrow. Throughout the documentary, both sides of the case provided evidences included scientific explanations like their mental state to sway the judge to either killed them by hanging or just to give them a life sentence. Personally, I don’t understand why they decided to kill Loeb’s cousin. Their motive was questionable, and it seems that they kill him simply for the thrill. The documentary presented a detailed map with the steps completed by the boys to kill Bobby. It highlighted