CHICAGO — Aficionados of the legendary attorney Clarence Darrow will gather at the Darrow Bridge in Jackson Park Sunday, March 13 at 10 a.m., as they have every March 13th for over 50 years to honor Darrow's memory. Darrow died March 13, 1938 in Chicago and his ashes were strewn at the lagoon. The focus this year is the death penalty, which Darrow opposed. By March 13, Illinoisans will know if Gov. Pat Quinn agrees with Darrow, because the state legislature has sent him a bill banning the practice in Illinois
The March 13 event will feature a special tribute to the late Lila Weinberg, who was a member of the Darrow commemorative committee and one of the founders of the Bridge ceremony in 1958. She and her husband Arthur authored a trilogy of books on Darrow.
After the outdoor wreath-tossing, guests will move inside to the Museum of Science and Industry's New Columbia Room for a dual tribute to Darrow and his work on capital punishment. As Darrow said during a 1924 debate: "[W]hy am I opposed to capital punishment? It is too horrible a thing for a State to undertake."
The speakers will be Edward Mogul and Joey Mogul, his niece, who are both long-time civil rights attorneys. The topic of Edward Mogul's speech is "'Justice' is Not a Legal Term, or the Gulf Between Justice and the Law." Joey Mogul's speech is, "Dreaming of Darrow and the Fight for Human Rights in the 21st Century."
More than 100 Darrow devotees, including attorneys, labor leaders, social justice advocates, civil libertarians, and First Amendment buffs will attend the outdoor wreath-throwing ceremonies behind the Museum of Science and Industry before moving to the New Columbian Room for the program.
As President of the Illinois Academy of Criminology, Edward Mogul successfully proposed that the Illinois Supreme Court adopt what is now the standard of law: "That it is the duty of the prosecutor to seek justice, not merely to convict." Mogul is a federal trial attorney concentrating in the area of criminal law, and a professor of humanities in the City Colleges of Chicago.
Joey Mogul, partner at the People's Law Office in Chicago, and an adjunct law professor at DePaul University College of Law, co-authored Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People. Mogul represents Darrell Cannon, Ronald Kitchen and Michael Tillman, alleged victims of police torture at Area 2 and 3 Police Headquarters, in their pending civil rights cases.
Loyola Law Professor Anita Weinberg, daughter or Arthur and Lila Weinberg, will preside over the indoor program. Tracy Baim, daughter of the late Joy Darrow, will preside at the bridge.
Darrow, characterized as the "attorney for the damned," who was born in 1857 in Farmdale, Ohio, practiced in Chicago and represented the underdog and vigorously opposed capital punishment. None of his many clients was sentenced to death.
Darrow's death on March 13, 1938, was memorialized throughout the world. His ashes, and later the ashes of his wife Ruby and his son Paul, were scattered from the Darrow Bridge which was dedicated to his memory by the Chicago Park District in 1957.
For more details see www.darrowbridge.org .
