Killing the poormaster [electronic resource] : a saga of poverty, corruption, and murder in the Great Depression

Waiting for nothing -- A city divided -- Suffer the little children -- In the dark -- Defenders -- Two funerals -- Taking account -- The nepotistic republic -- Circus maximus -- The marble halls of justice -- A jury of his peers -- On trial: the State's case -- On trial: the defense -- The hand of God.;Reflecting on a sensational murder trial from the late 1930s, this chronicle focuses upon the death of Harry Barck, a poormaster who was granted the authority to decide who would and would not receive public aid in Hoboken, New Jersey. Unemployed mason Joe Scutellaro was said to have stabbed Barck in the heart with a paper spike after the poormaster suggested that Scutellaro's wife prostitute herself on the streets rather than ask the city for aid. A legal team led by celebrated defender Samuel S. Leibowitz of Scottsboro Boys fame swooped into Hoboken from Manhattan to save Scutellaro from the electric chair, arguing that the jobless man's struggle with the poormaster was a symbol of larger social ills. The book details Leibowitz's transformation of the Scutellaro trial into an indictment of public relief as a tool for imposing social and political control nationwide. Grappling with issues that are still vital nowmassive unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistancethis examination lends insight into the current social contract, relaying a gripping narrative that shockingly reads like today's news.

On February 25, 1938, in the early days of the welfare system, the reviled poormaster Harry Barck—wielding power over who would receive public aid—died from a paper spike thrust into his heart. Barck was murdered, the prosecution would assert, by an unemployed mason named Joe Scutellaro. In denying Scutellaro money, Barck had suggested the man’s wife prostitute herself on the streets rather than ask the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, for aid. The men scuffled. Scutellaro insisted that Barck fell on his spike; the police claimed he grabbed the spike and stabbed Barck.

            News of the poormaster’s death brought national attention to the plight of ten million unemployed living in desperate circumstances. A team led by celebrated attorney Samuel Leibowitz of “Scottsboro Boys” fame worked to save Scutellaro from the electric chair, arguing that the jobless man’s struggle with the poormaster was a symbol of larger social ills. The trial became an indictment “of a system which expects a man to live, in this great democracy, under such shameful circumstances.”

            We live in a time where the issues examined in Killing the Poormaster—massive unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistance—remain vital. With its insight into our social contract, Killing the Poormaster reads like today’s news.

On February 25, 1938, in the early days of the welfare system, the reviled poormaster Harry Barck—wielding power over who would receive public aid—died from a paper spike thrust into his heart. Barck was murdered, the prosecution would assert, by an unemployed mason named Joe Scutellaro. In denying Scutellaro money, Barck had suggested the man's wife prostitute herself on the streets rather than ask the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, for aid. The men scuffled. Scutellaro insisted that Barck fell on his spike; the police claimed he grabbed the spike and stabbed Barck. News of the poormaster's death brought national attention to the plight of ten million unemployed living in desperate circumstances. A team led by celebrated attorney Samuel Leibowitz of “Scottsboro Boys” fame worked to save Scutellaro from the electric chair, arguing that the jobless man's struggle with the poormaster was a symbol of larger social ills. The trial became an indictment “of a system which expects a man to live, in this great democracy, under such shameful circumstances.” We live in a time where the issues examined in Killing the Poormaster —massive unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistance—remain vital. With its insight into our social contract, Killing the Poormaster reads like today's news. Reflecting on a sensational murder trial from the late 1930s, this chronicle focuses upon the death of Harry Barck, a poormaster who was granted the authority to decide who would and would not receive public aid in Hoboken, New Jersey. Unemployed mason Joe Scutellaro was said to have stabbed Barck in the heart with a paper spike after the poormaster suggested that Scutellaro{u2019}s wife prostitute herself on the streets rather than ask the city for aid. A legal team led by celebrated defender Samuel S. Leibowitz of ?Scottsboro Boys? fame swooped into Hoboken from Manhattan to save Scutellaro from the electric chair, arguing that the jobless man{u2019}s struggle with the poormaster was a symbol of larger social ills. The book details Leibowitz{u2019}s transformation of the Scutellaro trial into an indictment of public relief as a tool for imposing social and political control nationwide. Grappling with issues that are still vital now{u2014}massive unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistance{u2014}this examination lends insight into the current social contract, relaying a gripping narrative that shockingly reads like today{u2019}s news Examines the controversial 1930s murder trial of Joe Scutellaro, an unemployed mason, who was accused of killing Harry Barck, the stingy poormaster of Hoboken, New Jersey, who had the power to determine who, if anyone, received scanty public aid. Barck was employed in mayor Bernard McFeely's nepotistic city government. Scutellaro was defended by top-ranked criminal lawyer Samuel Leibowitz, whose strategy to achieve sympathy for the poor man by attacking the system is described carefully.Around the same time, Herman Matson of the Workers' Defense League (WDL) was trying to organize public protests, but was instead arrested by the Hoboken police for "inciting to riot," and whose lawyer, Edward Stover, was retaliated against financially Chronicles the events following the death of poormaster Harry Barck who had the power to decide who received public aid in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930s and the subsequent trial of his accused killer, an unemployed mason named Joe Scutellaro. Examines the challenges of corruption, unemployment, endemic poverty, and the inadequacy of public assistance during the Great Depression that continue to this day