The 2018 Darrow Symposium explored Darrow’s impact and relevance 80 years after his death.
Nabeela Rasheed – a Pakistani, British, American, Muslim, Queer, Lawyer, Biochemist and activist, Scott Schoettes – Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, and Catharine O’Daniel – a criminal defense attorney and appellate lawyer, described the impact Darrow had on their decision to enter the legal profession.
And 50 years after passage of The Fair Housing Act, symposium attendees heard Marisa Novara, Vice President at Metropolitan Planing Council, describe the continuing challenges to fair housing today, an issue Darrow fought for. Novara discussed findings of the Council’s Cost of Segregation Project – What We Pay in Lost Income, Lives and Potential.
Among his well known cases, Darrow is recognized for his defense of Ossian Sweet, a physician charged with murder in Detroit in 1925. After Sweet purchased a home in a white neighborhood and a mob tried to force him out, he and his family and friends defended his home. When one of the attacking mob was killed in the violence, Sweet and his family and friends were charged with murder. Actor Kevin Butler read excerpts from Darrow’s compelling closing argument in the Sweet case. Butler’s moving performance, along with the other speakers, can be seen on CAN-TV.
For more details about the 2018 program, see the flyer publicizing the event.
Clarence Darrow Commemorative Committee 