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28 Geo. L. J. 908 (1939-1940)
Lindbergh Law

handle is hein.journals/glj28 and id is 932 raw text is: THE LINDBERGH LAWI ROBERT C. FINLEY* HAD not Charles A. Lindbergh flown the Atlantic, it is possible that a federal kidnaping statute might not yet have been enacted. How- ever, assuming that some such law eventually would have been passed by the Congress, the statute without the close association of the Lind- bergh name, would, perhaps, have escaped notice as a routine piece of legislation. Moreover, had not the magic of the Lindbergh label deified the law, many of its social implications might have been accorded even more serious attention and analysis. This paper proposes: to scan the background of the Lindbergh Law; to review the legislative history of both the statute and the amendments thereto; to analyze critically the leading cases involving judicial con- struction of the statute; and to present some crime statistics indicating some of the results of the enactment. Historical records show that kidnaping was not unknown to ancient civilizations,1 and police records indicate its frequent occurrence through- out our entire national history. Although many sensational kidnapings have been perpetrated,2 the racket probably did not reach its full flower tThe statements and opinions in this article are those of the author and they shall in no manner be construed to be official representations of the Department of Justice. *A.B., Duke University (1927), LL.B., id. (1934), LL.M., Georgetown University Law School (1936); Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia; Attorney, Federal Alcohol Administration (1935-38) ; U. S. Probation Officer, Bureau of 'Prisons, Department of Justice (1938); Special Attorney, Department of justice (1939). 'Kidnaping is mentioned several times in the Bible-ExoDus 21:16; DEUTERONOmy 24:7. Blackstone in discussing the crime refers to Jewish Biblical Law and to Roman Law, 4 BL. Comm. *219. For an excellent discussion of the historical background of the crime of kidnaping and of the Roman plagin, see Fisher and Maguire, Kidnaping and the So- called Lindbergh Law (1935) 12 N. Y. U. L. Q. REv. 646; Lardone, Kidnaping in Roman Law (1932) 1 DEmnorr L. J. 163 (Note on Plagium). 2The kidnaping of young Charles Brewster Ross in a suburb of Philadelphia on July 1, 1874, was one of the most sensational and mysterious crimes of the late eighties. Edward Cudahy, son of the packer, was kidnaped December 18, 1900, and $L5,000 demanded for his return but he was released the same day. In May, 1919, Alexis Stockburger was kid- naped in Albany, New York, and never heard from again. On September 6, 1928, William Ranieri, son of a Chicago contractor, was seized and held for a $60,000 ransom but this case was solved, the boy returned safely, and his captors punished. The kidnaping and murder of Bobbie Franks by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb was probably the crime sensation of 1924. Marion Parker, daughter of a Los Angeles banker, was kidnaped December 5, 1927, and murdered. Blakely Coughlin was kidnaped in Morristown, Penn- 908

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