August 27, 1930
Letter from Clarence Darrow to Marie Sweet Smith

Marie Sweet Smith served for three months in the summer of 1930 as the secretary for the American League to Abolish Capital Punishment (ALACP). Darrow was president of the League and Vivian Pierce was its organizing force. Darrow here rejects Sweet Smith’s proposed campaign for the abolition of capital punishment on the basis that it would prevent or reduce crime, and rejects analyses based on the economic cost of crime. His wholesale rejection of Smith’s proposal speaks directly to his own philosophy. Although a strong supporter of abolishing the death penalty, Darrow was a pessimist who believed in abolition for compassionate reasons. As Darrow writes in the letter, crime could be reduced only by “educating children and making life easier for the masses.”

On the final page, mention is made of Arthur Garfield Hays, co-founder and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1925, Darrow and Hays worked together on two of the biggest trials of their careers, the Scopes Trial and the Sweet Trials. Hays also served on the board of the ALACP.