The Cook County Criminal Court Building and Jail first opened on April Fool’s Day, 1929, largely to solve the overcrowding problem that had condemned the previous courthouse and jail on 54 West Hubbard Street to rampant disease and internal crime, all despite renovations and expansions meant to quell the growing capacity problems (Noel)(Baer). As will be explained in the Variations section of this e-portfolio, there is a historical trend stemming back to Cook County's first courthouse of needing to expand the capacity of the court to handle the expanding criminal population.
However, the growth of this courthouse could not compete with the rapid increase in crime during the 1920s. In 1920, Prohibition made the sale of alcohol illegal, opening immense opportunities for illicit goods and services trades (New York Times). By the mid-1920s, about 1300 gangs occupied Chicago alone, using violence not only for individual deeds but larger scale “social and political control,” (Sivit)(FBI). Summarized aptly by Sean Dennis Cashman, “Prohibition led to a breakdown of law and order with the connivance of those in authority.”
Al Capone in 1929 by the Pennsylvania Department of Links to an external site. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb by Links to an external site.
Corrections Links to an external site. by FBI/Public Domain Bundesarchiv Bild Links to an external site./CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Links to an external site.
Perhaps one of the most notorious criminal authorities during this period was Al Capone, a gang leader whose involvement in prostitution, gambling, narcotics and other rackets epitomized the pompous ethos of 1920s Chicago criminals (FBI). Yet this crime problem was not confined to Chicago. According to Jeffrey S. Adler, the national homicide rate increased by nearly 50 percent between 1900 and 1925. By 1924, there was something of a widespread crime panic in Chicago and beyond (Adler). And while the Chicago robbery rate in the early 1920s was one hundred times that of London, a city known for its crime, Chicago’s violent crime trials were equally spectacular (Adler). The 1924 murder trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, conducted at the 54 West Hubbard courthouse, was one of many occurring nationwide, leading some reformers to believe that, “the very foundation of the country itself will be threatened,” should nothing be done to quell the growing crime problem (Adler 36).
Yet while the Leopold and Loeb trial case was one of many violent crimes taking place, its outcome — two 99 year life sentences—was rare (Adler). Nationwide, 80% of killers went unpunished, and just 22% of convictions were secured in Chicago homicide cases during the mid 1920s (Adler 37). Clearly, something had to be done to quell this trend of violence. Although this will be expanded upon in the “Commission and History” section of this e-portfolio, the committee behind the Cook County Criminal Court, believed “there is no question that if sufficient and suitable space were provided in a modern criminal court building, standards and efficiency of all individuals and departments house in the present building would be raised…promoting the administration of Criminal Justice in this county,” (Noel 19). Thus, the new courthouse and its jail appendage were built with the intent not only to quell crime due to its large capacity, but its outwardly design was thought to inspire less crime and a more systematized administration of criminal justice.
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