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

2023 National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize Finalist

In Judgment and Mercy, Martin J. Siegel examines the complex life and career of Irving Kaufman, the judge infamous for sentencing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for atomic espionage in 1951.

While many saw the Rosenberg affair as a McCarthyite stain on American justice, Kaufman later became a leading progressive, issuing key rulings on school desegregation, prison reform, and free speech.

Yet the Rosenberg case haunted him. Decades later, revelations of judicial misconduct led to renewed protests and calls for impeachment. His Supreme Court ambitions faded, and family tragedy deepened his suffering.

Absorbingly told, Judgment and Mercy reveals a judge both ambitious and tormented, exploring his influence on American history and the long shadow of a decision that shaped his legacy.

Martin J. Siegel is Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law, Houston. After clerking for Judge Kaufman, he served as an Assistant US Attorney in Manhattan and on the staff of the US Senate Judiciary Committee. His writing has been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, and legal journals.