The uncertainties of the law are again exemplified in the discovery of the fact that Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, whose kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks five years ago aroused such tumult. At the time of their sentencing, capital punishment was not inflicted because the two sentences of 99 years for kidnapping and of life for murder seemed to guarantee their imprisonment for the rest of their lives, but due to an error the two sentences are being served at once and with good behavior they can be released after only ten years imprisonment.
The opportunity for those unaccountable persons who invariably appear in such cases will soon come to plead for their speedy release. Hinton Clabaugh, Chairman of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, has discovered evidence of the fact that the young men are already profiting by their position to enjoy prison life in the greatest comfort. One may wonder at the prosecuting attorney who was so active in their prosecution making such a careless mistake; one may hazard a guess as to the action six years from now of the Parole Board that promised not to release them; and the only answer seems to be the one immortalized on such occasions by Barnum.
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M. Koechlin Lectures Friday