A Letter From The Publisher, Jun. 20, 1949

One day last month we received a request from Ann Mulville, of Norfolk, Conn., for whatever information we might have on Salvatore Giuliano, Sicily’s most renowned present-day bandit, who has achieved an internationalreputation for, among other overt acts, robbing the rich for the benefit of the poor. Miss Mulville explained: “We are having a mock trial of the case in our seventh grade at school, and I am the district attorney.”

While we were assembling the material on Giuliano, a second letter ar rived requesting the same information. It was from Leon R. Sinclair Jr. who, it turned out, was the attorney for the defense in the case. We sent the opposing attorneys tearsheets of TIME and LIFE stories on the subject and additional news from our morgue file on Giuliano, and, to satisfy our curiosity, asked our Hart ford string correspondent to find out what was going on at Norfolk Center School.

According to Teacher Willis E. Anderson, the subject of Giuliano arose via a report presented by one of the 29 pupils at the morning program period, which they plan and conduct. Another pupil doubted that the outlaw was a “Robin Hood” and, after investigating the deeds of the original hero of Sherwood Forest, a majority of the class agreed. The rest dissented so vigorously that it was decided to try Giuliano for murder, one of the Italian Government’s charges against him. A judge, jury, prosecutor, defense attorney, defendant, etc. were appointed, and the class then took up the problem of what would constitute evidence in the case.

This exploration led to the question of how to get the latest news about the case. Said Teacher Anderson: “Inasmuch as we use TIME and LIFE in our classroom, it was not surprising that the nimble-witted young lady who is the district attorney should ask her teacher if he thought TIME might help.” Opposing counsel took the cue and got off his own query to us.

When Miss Mulville, who is 13, tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed and somewhat reserved, had our information, she wrote to the Sicilian official who has sworn to get Giuliano dead or alive, asking for a transcript of the seven-page list of crimes the bandit is charged with, and to the Italian Embassy in Washington. At this writing she had not heard from either of them.

As for Defense Attorney Leon Sin clair Jr., 13, who is tall, slender, brown-haired, and the “most avid reader” in his class, he is using our material to prepare a preliminary brief and has set out to get more information. In this quest he is working closely with the “defendant,” a twelve-year-old seventh-grader of Italian descent, who has taken his role seriously enough to write to family relatives in Sicily and to Giuliano himself (no reply, as yet). Meanwhile, he is coaching his three witnesses in their testimony.

The “judge” in this case has been to the local courts to find out the rules of procedure for trying Giuliano under U.S. law, and a Norfolk judge has agreed to act as adviser to all concerned. In preparing the evidence in the Giuliano case the seventh-graders have had to give reports on trial by jury, the origin of English law, habeas corpus, the courts and jury system of Connecticut, and other related subjects. At present, according to Mr. Anderson, the status of the case is as follows:

“The class is agreed that if sufficient information is not forthcoming before the end of the school year, they will hold their mock trial at the beginning of the next school year. Meanwhile, the boys & girls are becoming aware of the importance of making decisions on the basis of fact and information.”

TIME has had a lot of fun helping out.

* As do 1,870 U.S. schools and colleges which get bulk orders of TIME for classroom use.