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Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs
As featured on
CBS Saturday Morning
. Finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize.
In Judgment and Mercy , Martin J. Siegel offers an insightful and compelling biography of Irving Robert Kaufman, the judge infamous for condemning Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for atomic espionage.
In 1951, world attention fixed on Kaufman's courtroom as its ambitious young occupant stridently blamed the Rosenbergs for the Korean War. To many, the harsh sentences and their preening author left an enduring stain on American justice. But then the judge from Cold War central casting became something one of the most illustrious progressive jurists of his day.
Upending the simplistic portrait of Judge Kaufman as a McCarthyite villain, Siegel shows how his pathbreaking decisions desegregated a Northern school for the first time, liberalized the insanity defense, reformed Attica-era prisons, spared John Lennon from politically motivated deportation, expanded free speech, brought foreign torturers to justice, and more. Still, the Rosenberg controversy lingered. Decades later, changing times and revelations of judicial misconduct put Kaufman back under siege. Picketers dogged his footsteps as critics demanded impeachment. And tragedy stalked his family, attributed in part to the long ordeal. Instead of propelling him to the Supreme Court, as Kaufman once hoped, the case haunted him to the end.
Absorbingly told, Judgment and Mercy brings to life a complex man by turns tyrannical and warm, paranoid and altruistic, while revealing intramural Jewish battles over assimilation, class, and patriotism. Siegel, who served as Kaufman's last law clerk, traces the evolution of American law and politics in the twentieth century and shows how a judge unable to summon mercy for the Rosenbergs nonetheless helped expand freedom for all.
In Judgment and Mercy , Martin J. Siegel offers an insightful and compelling biography of Irving Robert Kaufman, the judge infamous for condemning Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for atomic espionage.
In 1951, world attention fixed on Kaufman's courtroom as its ambitious young occupant stridently blamed the Rosenbergs for the Korean War. To many, the harsh sentences and their preening author left an enduring stain on American justice. But then the judge from Cold War central casting became something one of the most illustrious progressive jurists of his day.
Upending the simplistic portrait of Judge Kaufman as a McCarthyite villain, Siegel shows how his pathbreaking decisions desegregated a Northern school for the first time, liberalized the insanity defense, reformed Attica-era prisons, spared John Lennon from politically motivated deportation, expanded free speech, brought foreign torturers to justice, and more. Still, the Rosenberg controversy lingered. Decades later, changing times and revelations of judicial misconduct put Kaufman back under siege. Picketers dogged his footsteps as critics demanded impeachment. And tragedy stalked his family, attributed in part to the long ordeal. Instead of propelling him to the Supreme Court, as Kaufman once hoped, the case haunted him to the end.
Absorbingly told, Judgment and Mercy brings to life a complex man by turns tyrannical and warm, paranoid and altruistic, while revealing intramural Jewish battles over assimilation, class, and patriotism. Siegel, who served as Kaufman's last law clerk, traces the evolution of American law and politics in the twentieth century and shows how a judge unable to summon mercy for the Rosenbergs nonetheless helped expand freedom for all.
600 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 20, 2023
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am friends with the author and have heard him developing this book for several years.
Mr. Siegel has written a biography of Irving Kaufman, a federal judge most remembered (much to his chagrin) for presiding over the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg trial and sentencing them to death. Judge Kaufamn also was a titan of the post-war liberal judiciary, writing important decisions on rights of people accused of crimes, rights of people convicted of crimes, rights of the mentally ill, press freedoms and many others.
Through the life of Judge Kaufman, Mr. Siegel tells the remarkable story of poor Jewish immigrants who came to the United States by the millions in the late 19th and early 20th century and fought hard to be accepted as respected members of the American "Establishment". Judge Kaufmann rubs shoulder with many upwardly mobile, second generation Jews in law, business and show business. If you read between the lines, you can feel Judge Kaufman's fight for respectability while paradoxically trying to retain a Jewish identity amongst an elite who preferred him not to be Jewish. Judge Kaufman's obsequious courting of Herbert Hoover, attorneys general of every post-war administration, congress people and others reminds me of the court Jews of 18th and 19th Centrury Europe, only with a better outcome.
Mr. Siegel also tells the story of the evolution of the post-war judiciary, emerging from the era of strong conservatism and bias against any action to an equal branch of government shaping social policy back to a conservative bastion deferring to Congress and the Executive. Judge Kaufman fit squarely into the activist judiciary looking to interpret the Constitution to allow protections for individuals, particularly individuals who did not conform to the White American facade of the mid-20th Century.
Despite all of Judge Kaufman's later liberal decisions, he could never escape his reputation as the judge who sentenced the Rosenbergs to death. Details in the book make clear that the trial of the Rosenbergs would not pass scrutiny under the standards of today. Judge Kaufman collaborated with the government to ensure a guilty verdict and the death penalty. I don't know what the standards of the 50s were, but it is hard to imagine that if the extent of Judge Kaufman's active collusion was known to appellate courts, the convictions would not have been overturned and new trials ordered. This biography then is a lesson about cancel culture. No one (except for a few like Hitler, Pol Pot or Stalin) should be viewed as all good or all bad. George Washington enslaved many people and treated them savagely because of the color of their skin. He also was a great political and military leader whose achievements brought forth an amazing and enduring society. Somehow we have to acknowledge and reconcile both sides of Washington, both sides of America and both sides of Kaufman.
Mr. Siegel's book is structured as a straight biography of Judge Kaufman's life starting with the immigration of his parents and ending with his death. Mr. Siegel's style is very clear, with narrative, not lessons driving the book. Given more time and few hundred pages more, I would have liked to have more historical context as well as biographical context. However, I think this biography takes us into the world of post-war America very well and certainly captures much of the Jewish experience.
Mr. Siegel has written a biography of Irving Kaufman, a federal judge most remembered (much to his chagrin) for presiding over the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg trial and sentencing them to death. Judge Kaufamn also was a titan of the post-war liberal judiciary, writing important decisions on rights of people accused of crimes, rights of people convicted of crimes, rights of the mentally ill, press freedoms and many others.
Through the life of Judge Kaufman, Mr. Siegel tells the remarkable story of poor Jewish immigrants who came to the United States by the millions in the late 19th and early 20th century and fought hard to be accepted as respected members of the American "Establishment". Judge Kaufmann rubs shoulder with many upwardly mobile, second generation Jews in law, business and show business. If you read between the lines, you can feel Judge Kaufman's fight for respectability while paradoxically trying to retain a Jewish identity amongst an elite who preferred him not to be Jewish. Judge Kaufman's obsequious courting of Herbert Hoover, attorneys general of every post-war administration, congress people and others reminds me of the court Jews of 18th and 19th Centrury Europe, only with a better outcome.
Mr. Siegel also tells the story of the evolution of the post-war judiciary, emerging from the era of strong conservatism and bias against any action to an equal branch of government shaping social policy back to a conservative bastion deferring to Congress and the Executive. Judge Kaufman fit squarely into the activist judiciary looking to interpret the Constitution to allow protections for individuals, particularly individuals who did not conform to the White American facade of the mid-20th Century.
Despite all of Judge Kaufman's later liberal decisions, he could never escape his reputation as the judge who sentenced the Rosenbergs to death. Details in the book make clear that the trial of the Rosenbergs would not pass scrutiny under the standards of today. Judge Kaufman collaborated with the government to ensure a guilty verdict and the death penalty. I don't know what the standards of the 50s were, but it is hard to imagine that if the extent of Judge Kaufman's active collusion was known to appellate courts, the convictions would not have been overturned and new trials ordered. This biography then is a lesson about cancel culture. No one (except for a few like Hitler, Pol Pot or Stalin) should be viewed as all good or all bad. George Washington enslaved many people and treated them savagely because of the color of their skin. He also was a great political and military leader whose achievements brought forth an amazing and enduring society. Somehow we have to acknowledge and reconcile both sides of Washington, both sides of America and both sides of Kaufman.
Mr. Siegel's book is structured as a straight biography of Judge Kaufman's life starting with the immigration of his parents and ending with his death. Mr. Siegel's style is very clear, with narrative, not lessons driving the book. Given more time and few hundred pages more, I would have liked to have more historical context as well as biographical context. However, I think this biography takes us into the world of post-war America very well and certainly captures much of the Jewish experience.
April 16, 2024
Had heard the author on NPR and decided to pick it up. By turns infuriating and fascinating, the book shows meticulous research and a sincere effort to be 'fair' to an almost completely unsympathetic main focus. Idle but genuine question: was there ANYTHING that happened in the 40's, 50's, and 60's that didn't have Roy Cohn's fingerprints on it? One might be forgiven for thinking his portrayal in Angels in America might have been no exaggeration.
Someone's law library probably needs this, willing to donate.
Someone's law library probably needs this, willing to donate.
July 11, 2024
Very informational and gives a good introspect of the times.
Read
July 19, 2024excellent study of the judge in the Rosenberg case, his career and seeming profound regrets.
January 16, 2024
Extensive and exhaustive treatment of famed jurist
This book covers Irving Kaufman’s life and judicial decisions in a level of detail reserved for the most scholarly of biographies. It analyses Kaufman’s most famous decision, the Rosenberg trial, not just on the law and facts, but on the discussions and controversies surrounding it as well.
But that is only one part of this book. While the decision haunted Kaufman throughout his life, it was far from the most important legal decision he ever rendered. The desegregation of New Rochelle schools, the John Lennon immigration case, the international law matter of Filartiga which established the authority of a US court in international torture cases… the list goes on.
We are also treated to a detailed examination of Kaufman the man, his ambition, drive, narcissism, conflicts, and family life, and how they influenced and were affected by his work.
While the repetition of certain analyses should have been edited and streamlined, and some terms were odd and jarring (“hippieland”??) this is a unique and scholarly opus that shouldn’t be missed.
This book covers Irving Kaufman’s life and judicial decisions in a level of detail reserved for the most scholarly of biographies. It analyses Kaufman’s most famous decision, the Rosenberg trial, not just on the law and facts, but on the discussions and controversies surrounding it as well.
But that is only one part of this book. While the decision haunted Kaufman throughout his life, it was far from the most important legal decision he ever rendered. The desegregation of New Rochelle schools, the John Lennon immigration case, the international law matter of Filartiga which established the authority of a US court in international torture cases… the list goes on.
We are also treated to a detailed examination of Kaufman the man, his ambition, drive, narcissism, conflicts, and family life, and how they influenced and were affected by his work.
While the repetition of certain analyses should have been edited and streamlined, and some terms were odd and jarring (“hippieland”??) this is a unique and scholarly opus that shouldn’t be missed.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews