Exoneration: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell &mdash Prosecutorial deceptions, suborned perjuries, anti-Semitism, and precedent for today's unconstitutional trials explores the sensational 20th century "spy trial" of 1951 that ended with the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Exoneration exposes the political agenda of the prosecution's strategy in the courtroom accusing the defendants of treason on behalf of an enemy, although the United States and the Soviet Union were not at war. Even though no evidence was presented to support the charge of treason, treason was used by the judge as justification for executing the Rosenbergs.
Exoneration is a compelling, first-person account from the epicenter of the 1950s campaign to save the Rosenbergs, enriched with new historical material that has never appeared before. Authors Emily and David Alman co-founded the Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case in 1951 to obtain either a new trial or clemency for the Rosenbergs. Using government documents as proofs, the Almans show secret, illegal meetings between the Attorney General and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to make sure the Supreme Court would not stop the executions.
Exoneration also documents the pervasive anti-Semitic sentiments of J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the FBI, and of his colleagues. At the same time our government was consigning the Rosenbergs to the death chamber, our government was importing many thousands of "ex"-Nazi experts in psychological warfare and torturous medical experiments into top positions in our military and scientific organizations.
Exoneration demonstrates that precedents created at the 1951 trial have, over nearly 60 years, fundamentally altered our system of justice. In the 21st century, we have a courtroom system in which accusations of disloyalty, espionage, treason and terrorism are tried in special courts from which the Constitution is barred. The authors warn that the nation is gradually accepting a totalitarian system of justice that will inflict tragic miscarriages of justice. The authors argue for a widespread re-dedication to American values to restore our formerly unified Constitutional system of justice. An important step to reclaiming the Constitution for American justice, the authors say, is reopening the Rosenberg case and granting the defendants exoneration.
Historian Howard Zinn writes, "More important than questions of guilt or innocence are the challenges this book makes to the justice system in our country."
Rob Okun, editor of a book of artists responses to the Rosenbergs, proclaims, "Exoneration is sure to become the bible of this cautionary chapter in U.S. history....This book belongs on the shelves of every citizen who wants the truth behind the headlines."
Michael Meeropol, the Rosenberg's oldest son, says, "With the benefit of history, I now realize that it was the work of the Committee that was most crucial in raising doubts in ordinary people's minds....Read this book for the incredible story of courage and action. Read it for the surprises....Read this book, too, because in recalling the story of how a handful of people stood up to the U.S. government....we can be reminded of the very best in our American culture."
Robert Meeropol, the Rosenberg's youngest son, writes "...Even if my father and others conspired to commit espionage, they did not 'steal the secret of the Atomic Bomb,' and they did not commit treason and the U.S. government was aware of this distinction all along....My parents should be exonerated because their prosecution and execution were the result of a government-orchestrated conspiracy to falsely enhance the charges against them."
