Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs

447 Pages·2023·5.47 MB·English

by  Martin J. Siegel

JUDGMENT AND MERCY

JUDGMENT AND
MERCY
THE TURBULENT LIFE AND TIMES OF
THE JUDGE WHO CONDEMNED THE
ROSENBERGS
Martin J. Siegel
THREE HILLS
AN IMPRINT OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2023 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in
a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be
reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address
Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State
Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at
cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 2023 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Siegel, Martin J., 1966– author.
Title: Judgment and mercy : the turbulent life and
times of the judge who condemned the Rosenbergs /
Martin J. Siegel.
Description: Ithaca : Three Hills, an imprint of Cornell
University Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022034159 (print) | LCCN
2022034160 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501768521
(hardcover) | ISBN 9781501768538 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501768545 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Kaufman, Irving R. (Irving Robert),
1910–1992. | Judges—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC KF373.K397 S54 2023 (print) |
LCC KF373.K397 (ebook) | DDC 347.73/
0234 [B]—dc23/eng/20221019
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022034159
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.
gov/2022034160
Cover photograph: Irving R. Kaufman in chambers,
ca. 1974. Courtesy of the Kaufman Family Photo
Collection.
To my parents—my greatest teachers,
Bettina—my greatest love,
and Lily and Asher—my greatest joys
And I, my head encircled by error, said:
“Master, what is this I hear, and what people
Are these so overcome by pain?”
And he said to me: “This miserable state is borne
By the wretched souls of those who lived
Without disgrace yet without praise.”
Dante Alighieri, Inferno
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: The Funeral 1
1. Isidore Mortem 8
2. Demon Boy Prosecutor 18
3. A Dream Come True 42
4. At Home on the Bench and
Park Avenue 61
5. The Trial of the Century 78
6. Worse Than Murder 106
7. Immortality 126
8. Beaten by the Harvards 145
9. Apalachin and the Little Rock
of the North 161
10. Elevation and Descent 184
11. The Forgotten Man 204
12. Hippieland 222
13. The Most Cherished Tenet 242
14. Annus Horribilis 264
15. Some Form of Justice 298
16. Keep the Beacon Burning 310
Epilogue: “I Can’t Believe I’m
Going to Die” 334
viii Contents
Note on Sources 347
Abbreviations 349
Notes 353
Bibliography 409
Index 419
Acknowledgments
This book has been in the making since
1994, when I tentatively and intermittently began researching Judge
Kaufman’s life for what I hoped might eventually become a biography,
so there have been many to thank along the way.
Judge Kaufman’s papers are housed at the Library of Congress, and
I’m indebted to staff at the Manuscript Reading Room who assisted
me on several visits, especially Alex LoBianco. The National Archives
and Records Administration maintains the files of federal legal cases,
and I benefited greatly from the assistance of several dedicated NARA
archivists, including Pamela J. Anderson, Kelly McAnnaney, Trina Yeck-
ley, Chris Gushman, Carey Stumm, Martin McGann, Richard Gelbke,
and Allen Fisher.
Archivists and other experts at seven presidential libraries and many
other collections were also responsive and helpful in guiding my re-
search and providing copies, including particularly Hailey Philbin at the
Kennedy Presidential Library; Danielle Clark and Meghan Lee-Parker at
the Nixon Presidential Library; Beth Calleros at the Reagan Presidential
Library; Sarah Patton and Diana Sykes at the Hoover Institution; Mary
Person at Harvard Law School; Patrice Kane and Rev. Msgr. Professor
Thomas Shelley at Fordham; Elizabeth Haluska-Rausch and Elizabeth
Hilkin at the University of Texas Law School; Larry Sheldon, Patrick
Raftery, and Barbara Davis at the New Rochelle Public Library; Lisette
Matano at Georgetown; Ann Causey at the University of Virginia; Lynn
Catanese at the Hagley Museum and Library; Elizabeth Hyman at the
American Jewish Historical Society; Nancy Lyon at Yale; Melinda Wal-
lington at Rochester; Kristen Nyitray at Stony Brook; Yvette Toledo at
the New Hampshire State Department; Christa Cleeton at Princeton;
Elisha Neely at Cornell; David Favaloro at the Lower East Side Ten-
ement Museum; Julia Rodriguez at DeWitt Clinton High School;
ix