1869, Ep. 133 with Martin Siegel, author of Judgment and Mercy

1869, the Cornell University Press Podcast

Use promo code 09POD to save 30% on Judgment and Mercy: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501768521/judgment-and-mercy/#bookTabs=1 Read the transcript here: https://otter.ai/u/uUDuXKCSNuQrwHnYzofXBg5k9RE?utm_source=copy_url In this episode, we speak with Martin Siegel, author of Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs. Martin J. Siegel practices and teaches law in 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. As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Rosenberg executions, we spoke to Martin about their story ,as well as that of the young and ambitious judge who sentenced them to death – Judge Irving Robert Kaufman. We learn that in the decades after that fateful decision, Judge Kaufman transformed into one of the most progressive judges of his time, and Martin also shares with us his, and his fellow clerks', experiences working for the judge.