History buffs know the name Clarence Darrow from the so-called Scopes Monkey trial in 1920’s Tennessee. Darrow was the attorney immortalized in the 1960 film, Inherent the Wind, that delved into the trial in which he argued that evolution should be allowed to be taught in public schools.
But Darrow also argued a sensational murder trial right here in Vermont, in Windsor, in 1926.
It’s not a widely known case, but it has a fascinating backstory that’s been brought to light in a new book called “Winters’ Time: A Secret Pledge, a Severed Head, and the Murder That Brought America's Most Famous Lawyer to Vermont.”
It’s written by Jeffrey Amestoy. He was Vermont’s Attorney General from 1985 to 1997, and went on to become the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, serving until 2004. He authored the groundbreaking Baker decision in 1999 that said Vermont’s prohibition on same sex marriage denied rights granted in the state constitution.
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