Who is Leo Frank?

Leo Frank, born April 17, 1884, was a Jewish-American businessman who was lynched by a party of prominent citizens in Marietta Georgia. The vicious and hateful treatment of Leo Frank and his subsequent lynching turned a spotlight on anti-Semitism and hateful acts based on religious beliefs in the United States. The lynching of Leo Frank ultimately led to the founding of the Anti-Defamation League.

The Mary Phagan Murder:

Mary Phagan was a young girl who worked in a mill that was operated by her family. Phagan left school at the age of 10 to assume a job at the mill. After working in the mill, Phagan took a job with the National Pencil Company, where ran machines that inserted rubber erasers into the pencils’ metal bands.

Mary Phagan worked in the metal room, down the hall from Leo Frank’s office. Around noon on April 27th, the factory’s security guard went to the factory basement to use the facilities where he discovered the dead body of Mary Phagan. Her body was savagely beatn, and a seven foot strip of wrapping cord was tied around the young girl’s neck.

There were two notes found next to Phagan’s head. The notes, which were written in gibberish, were believed to a ploy to falsely accuse the black security guard who discovered the body.

When the guard was interviewed on suspicion of leaving the note, the authorities realized that the man was not the murdered. With no murder suspect in hand, the suspicion gradually fell on Leo Frank. The authorities believed that Frank was the culprit because he had developed a flirtatious relationship with Phagan and was extremely nervous when questioned.

The Leo Frank Trial:

On July 28, 1913 the murder trial commenced in a Georgia courtroom. Leo Frank was represented by eight lawyers. The prosecution’s predominant theory cited that Leo Frank was the murdered and the murder notes were dictated by Frank to an African-American janitor to effectively pin the crime on the man. The janitor, who was kept in custody and questioned by police, changed his story multiple times but finally claimed that Leo Frank promised him $200 dollars to write the notes.

Leo Frank’s defense team brought numerous witnesses who affirmed Frank’s alibi, which ultimately did not leave enough time for Leo Frank to commit the murder.

On August 25, Leo Frank was convicted of murder. Shocked by the verdict, Leo Frank appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court denied this appeal as a writ of habeas corpus sought by Frank’s lawyers. Months later, William Smith, the lawyer for the African American janitor announced that he believed that his client had murdered Phagan. A writ of error was issued, which allowed Leo Frank to appeal the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal in April of 1915. On April 19, the appeal was denied on a 7-2 vote. Originally Leo Frank was sentenced to death, but after further review of the evidence the governor of Georgia commuted Frank’s sentence to life in prison.

The Lynching of Leo Frank:

A group of prominent men in Georgia organized themselves into a group called the “Knight of Mary Phagan”. The men recruited 25 to 28 other men, who possessed necessary skills, to effectively kidnap Leo Frank from prison in hopes of lynching him.

On the afternoon of August 16, eight cars arrived at the prison shortly before midnight. The team executed an elaborate plan to remove Leo Frank from prison; when they got to Leo Frank they handcuffed him and tied his ankles together. They removed Leo Frank from jail and hung him from a tree that faced Mary Phagan’s home. Several hundreds of people viewed the lynching for they assumed Leo Frank was the murderer.

Nearly seventy years later, in 1982, Alonzo Mann, who was Frank’s office boy, told the authorities that he had seen the janitor alone at the factory, carrying Phagan’s dead body.

Who is Leonard Peltier?

Leonard Peltier is a prominent member of the American Indian Movement and a passionate American activist. In 1977, Leonard Peltier was convicted and subsequently sentenced to two consecutive life sentences aiding and abetting the execution of two FBI agents.

The executions of the FBI agents took place during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The Shootout:

On June 26th of 1975, Special Agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were pursuing a young Pine Ridge resident named Jimmy Eagle. The FBI agents were in search of Eagle, because the young man was connected with a recent assault and robbery that took place on the ranch.

During their pursuit, both agents (driving separate unmarked cars) began following a red truck that matched the description of Eagle’s vehicle. At this time, Leonard Peltier had a warrant for his arrest that was issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for attempted murder chargers—Leonard Peltier was a fugitive for his role in the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer.

While following the red truck, Williams and Coler came under heavy gun fire from the occupants of targeted vehicle. When the agents called for reinforcement, the back-up agents were also fired upon. Late in the afternoon, local authorities found the bodies of Williams and Coler inside their vehicle—the two men were fatally shot.

At 6:30 p.m. special agents and the local authorities ignited tear gas and raided the homes of the ranch. Although the raid effectively usurped the location, the gunmen had fled the premises. 

Aftermath of the Shootout:

On September 9, 1975 Leonard Peltier purchased a vehicle outside of Denver, Colorado. The FBI sent out descriptions of the vehicle in which Leonard Peltier and his associated were believed to be caravanning in. An Oregon State Police Officer stopped the vehicles based on the descriptions and ordered the driver of the caravan to exit. Leonard Peltier, who was the driver of the pulled-over vehicle, refused to comply with the orders and instead fired at the trooper. After exchanging gunfire, Leonard Peltier escaped on foot. In the following months, Leonard Peltier assumed residences throughout the western part of the United States and Canada.

Leonard Peltier was eventually arrested and extradited from Alberta, Canada on February 6, 1976. Leonard Peltier was arrested, through the issuance of an affidavit, offered by a Native American woman who claimed to be Peltier’s girlfriend.

Leonard Peltier Trial:

Leonard Peltier was initially tried in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. The jury convicted Leonard Peltier of the murders of both special agents (Coler and Williams). These convictions carried two consecutive life sentences. Following the delivery of these convictions, Leonard Peltier appealed the decision, where a Federal appeals Judge claimed that the evidence (particularly the bullets that were recovered from the scene) was overwhelming.

Leonard Peltier admitted that he fired at the agents but denies that he delivered the fatal shots. Leonard Peltier is currently incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Who is Nelson Mandela?

Nelson Mandela, born on July 18, 1918, served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Nelson Mandela, when elected, became the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic environment. Before elected, Nelson Mandela was a staunch anti-apartheid activist and the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress.

Nelson Mandela’s Arrest and Prison Sentence:

In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested and subsequently convicted of sabotage and various other charges. Nelson Mandela, as a result of these charges, was sentenced to life in prison. After serving 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released on February 11 of 1990. Following his release, Nelson Mandela led his newly-formed political party in negotiations that ultimately led to the creation of a multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was a political activist who fought for the equal rights of the black majority. Often oppressed, the black community in South Africa was stripped of basic privileges, such as participating in elections, that were commonly enjoyed by their fellow white citizens.

In 1961, Nelson Mandela became leader of the armed wing branch of government. Through this organization, Nelson Mandela, coordinated sabotage campaigns against various military and government targets. These campaigns were initiated by Nelson Mandela as a plan to militarize and possible establish a military action to end the apartheid. The military actions proposed by Nelson Mandela never intended to inflict violence on citizens or people, but instead, on symbolic places, such as post offices and government offices, of apartheid. This armed movement was a last resort for Nelson Mandela that was prompted by years of repression and violence from the government; Nelson Mandela, after engaging in years of non-violent protest against apartheid realized that only military actions or symbolic destruction could achieve progress.

On August 5, 1962 Nelson Mandela was arrested after fleeing the authorities for seventeen months. When Nelson Mandela was finally caught, he was imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort. The arrest was sparked due to the United States’ Central intelligence Agency; the CIA tipped of the security agency as the Mandela’s disguise and whereabouts. Three days after receiving the CIA’s tips, Nelson Mandela was found and subsequently charged with leading a revolt and formulating worker strikes, in addition to leaving the country illegal. On October 5, 1962, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison.

While in prison, Nelson Mandela’s reputation grew to the point where he eventually became known as the most significant black leader and voice in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela’s Life after Prison:

Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, South Africa on 11 February 1990. Mandela’s release was broadcast throughout the world and quickly was regarded as a landmark movement to end apartheid and unite the black and white community of South Africa.

On the day of his release, Nelson mandela made a speech to the entire nation; Mandela declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation with South Africa’s white minority, but it made it clear, that the armed organization’s plot and overall development was a defensive necessity to end apartheid. As a result of this statement, Nelson Mandela let the people of his nation know that the armed organization would continue to develop so long as the climate remained shaky. In this speech, Nelson Mandela also stated that his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in both national and local elections.

The Background of Nix v. Williams

Williams was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly killing a ten year-old girl whose body he disposed of along a gravel road. State law enforcement agency engaged in a thorough and massive search for the child’s body. During the search, after responding to a law enforcement agent’s appeal for assistance, Williams offered statements to the police, without the presence of at attorney, which ultimately helped the searchers to the child’s corpse. In this instance, the defendant’s Miranda rights were only read to him after his arrest and not before it. As a result of this violation of protocol and the rights awarded in the United States Constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States had to review the evidence obtained in alignment with such a violation. The primary question that the Supreme Court evaluated was whether or not evidence resulting in an arrest is excluded from trial because it was improperly obtained.

The Supreme Court of the United States in Nix v. Williams ultimately stated that in this instance, Williams’s conviction was upheld due to “inevitable discovery doctrine.” This provision held that the exclusionary rule (the termination of evidence due to the fraudulent nature of which it was obtained) did not apply to this particular case, because the child’s body was viewed as evidence itself and it was clear that the search would have resulted in the discovery of the body even if Williams never offered the statements to the authorities.

Inevitable discovery is a doctrine found in the United States’ criminal procedure, which allows evidence of a defendant’s guilt (that would otherwise be considered inadmissible under the exclusionary rule) to be admitted as reputable and fair in a trial. This doctrine was adopted by the United States Supreme Court in Nix v. Williams in 1984 and holds that any evidence obtained in a violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights is admissible in court if it can be state, that a normal police investigation would have discovered the underlying evidence. The rational for this doctrine is that police misconduct is deterred and the interests of the general society are better served by putting law enforcement agents in the same position that they would have otherwise been in without the rights violation.

The Case Profile of Nix v. Williams

The following is a case profile of the legal trial eponymously titled ‘Nix v. Williams’:

Date of the Trial: Nix V. Williams was decided in 1984

Legal Classification: Administrative Law; this legal field associated with events and circumstances in which the Federal Government of the United States engages its citizens, including the administration of government programs, the creation of agencies, and the establishment of a legal, regulatory federal standard

Legal Venue of Nix v. Williams: United States Supreme Court

Judicial Officer Responsible for Ruling: Chief Justice William Rehnquist

Who is Jack Kevorkian?

Jack Kevorkian, born on May 26th of 1928, is a pathologist and prominent right-to-die activist. Jack Kevorkian, also known as the “Doctor of Death”, is most infamously known for publicly championing an individual’s–who is stricken with a terminal illness—right to die through a physician-assisted suicide.

Jack Kevorkian was a proponent for Euthanasia, which is a willing administration of a deadly gas or injection to end an individual’s life. Jack Kevorkian offered these services to patients who were suffering from incurable and painful diseases; the patients who Jack Kevorkian served wished to die as oppose to suffer from their ailment.

Between 1990 and 1998, Doctor Jack Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of 130 terminally ill individuals. In each of these assisted deaths, the individuals themselves allegedly took the final action that ultimately precipitated their own deaths. These actions revolved around turning on a poisonous gas or injecting themselves with a poisonous agent of some sort. Doctor Jack Kevorkian’s, as a result of the patient’s actions, only attached the individual to the device—which he made—that caused the patient to die. The patient, after being equipped with the device, would then push a button that released the chemicals or drugs into their system. Only 2 of Kevorkian’s 130 assisted-suicide cases were delivered through a mechanical intravenous.

Kevorkian Trials:

For his role in assisting suicide, Jack Kevorkian was tried numerous times; typically these trials and convictions took place in Oakland County, Michigan. Before executing the euthanasia, Jack Kevorkian required all of his patients to give full consent before the procedure could commence. The deaths were merciful killings, meaning they were agreed upon by the patient to end the suffering caused by an incurable disease.

On March 26, 1999 Jack Kevorkian was charged with second-degree murder and the delivery of a controlled substance—on a live broadcast in September of 1998, Jack Kevorkian, following the consent of Thomas Kourk (a patient in the final stages of ALS), administered the merciful killing himself. In addition to the fact that Kevorkian himself injected Kourk, Kevorkian’s medical license had been revoked eight years prior; through this suspension he was not legally allowed to possess any controlled substances.

During the trial Kevorkian represented himself. The Michigan jury ultimately found Kevorkian guilty of second-degree homicide—it was proven that Kevorkian had directly killed a person because Youk was physically unable to administer the injection himself. The Judge, upon the conviction, sentenced Kevorkian to 10-25 years in a Coldwater, Michigan prison.

Kevorkian’s release:

Following years of good behavior, Jack Kevorkian received parole on June 1, 2007—Kevorkian, in total, spent eight years and 3 months in prison. At the time of his release, Oregon was the only state in America to legally allow for the assisted killing of terminally-ill patients.

The Background of Kyllo v. the United States:

Kyllo v. United States is a landmark Supreme Court Case, which ultimately stated that the use of a thermal imaging device—from a public vantage point—to monitor the emission of heat radiation from an individual’s home is legally regarded as a “search.” Through this classification, the use of a thermal imaging device is regulated by the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution and thus requires the obtainment of a warrant.

The case of Kyllo v. United States revolves around a situation where the Department of the Interior used a thermal imaging device outside of the private residence of Danny Kyllo. The evidentiary hearing in the District County Court stated that the imaging device could not penetrate the home’s walls or windows to reveal any human interactions or record any conversation. The device, upon use, showed that there was an unusual amount of heat radiating from the side walls and roof of the garage. This information was ultimately used to obtain a search warrant where federal agents later discovered over 100 marijuana plants growing in Kyllo’s home.

Danny Kyllo was charged with growing marijuana in his Oregon residence. Kyllo appealed the charges in the Ninth Circuit Court by stating that the observations (obtained through the use of a thermal-imaging device) constituted a formal search under the Fourth Amendment. Although the conviction was upheld at the Court of Appeals, Kyllo petitioned a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

 Kyllo v. United States Trial

In Kyllo v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the thermal imaging device used to monitor Kyllo’s home constituted a search and thus required a warrant before the device was used. Since the law enforcement agents did not have a warrant when the imaging device was used, the search was ruled unreasonable and therefore unconstitutional.

The Case Profile of Kyllo v. United States:

The following is a case profile of the legal trial eponymously titled ‘Kyllo v. United States’:

Date of the Trial: Kyllo v. United States was argued on February 20, 2001

Legal Classification: Administrative law this legal field associated with events and circumstances in which the Federal Government of the United States engages its citizens, including the administration of government programs, the creation of agencies, and the establishment of

United States Reports Case Number: 533 U.S. 27

Date of the Delivery of the Verdict: Kyllo v. United States was decided on June 11 2001

Legal Venue of Kyllo v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States

Judicial Officer Responsible for Ruling: Chief Justice William Rhenquist

Involved Parties: The following are the parties named with regard to their involvement in the Kyllo v. United States case:

In Kyllo v. United States, Danny Kyllo was the plaintiff and the State of Oregon was the defendant.

Verdict Delivered: The United States Supreme Court in Kyllo v. United States ruled that the use of a thermal imaging device to monitor an individual’s home constitutes a Fourth Amendment “search” and may be accomplished only with the obtainment of a warrant.

Associated Legislation with regard to Kyllo v. United States: The following statutory regulations were employed with regard to the Kyllo v. United States trial:

The 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution requires a search warrant to obtain by law enforcement agencies when conducting any surveillance or investigatory techniques that are constituted as searches under the 4th Amendment.

The Background of Leopold and Loeb:

Richard Loeb (born June 11, 1905-January 28, 1936) and Nathan Leopold (born November 19, 1904-August 29, 1971), commonly known as “Leopold and Loeb” were two upper-class University of Chicago students who murdered a 14 year old boy, Robert Franks, in 1924.

Leopold and Loeb were motivated to murder the youth to fulfill their desire to commit the perfect crime. Leopold, 19 and Loeb 18, at the time of the murder, believed themselves to be intellectually-capable of committing the “perfect murder.” Leopold was a child prodigy, who reportedly had an IQ of 210 and Leopold, who already had graduated college, was attending law school at the University of Chicago.

The Leopold and Loeb Murder:

Leopold, Loeb, and the victim, Franks, lived on the south side of Chicago in a wealthy Jewish neighborhood. Leopold and Loeb spent seven months spent nearly seven months planning the murder; they worked out a way to get ransom money with minimal risk of being caught. The plan was initiated when Leopold and Loeb, lured Franks into the passenger seat of the rented car; Leopold drove the car, while Loeb sat in the back with the murder weapon.

One of the men then struck Franks with a chisel; the men then stuffed a sock into Franks’ mouth—the boy died shortly afterwards. Leopold and Loeb then covered the body and drove to a remote area to leave Franks’ body (after disrobing him) in a culvert near the Pennsylvania Railroad Tracks.

When Leopold and Loeb returned to Chicago they notified Frank’s mother that her son had been kidnapped. They mailed the Franks’ a ransom note; however, the body of Robert Franks was shortly discovered after the mailing of the ransom note. While searching for evidence, Detective Hugh Byrne discovered a pair of eyeglasses near the body—the glasses had a rare mechanism that only three people in Chicago possesses, one of whom was Nathan Leopold.

When Leopold and Loeb were questioned, their alibis ultimately fell apart and although their confessions corroborated the majority of the facts in the case, each blamed the other for the killing.

Leopold and Loeb Trial:

The Leopold and Loeb trial became a media spectacle; the review of the Leopold and Loeb murder was dubbed the trial of the century.

During the Leopold and Loeb trial, Clarence Darrow—the attorney for the two men—had his clients plead guilty to avoid a jury trial. Darrow avoided the trial, which would have invariably resulted in the death sentence, to make his case for his clients’ lives to be heard before a single person—Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Caverly.

During the 12-hour hearing on the final day of the Leopold and Loeb trail, Darrow successfully argued that the two men committed the murder as a result of their advanced teachings; in essence the men assumed the lives of “broken machines.” The speech, which is regarded as Darrow’s finest, ultimately saved the men’s life, for Leopold and Loeb were sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Robert Franks.