ROSENBERG TRIAL - BLOCH, Emanuel H.

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Legal brief submitted to appeal the verdict of the Rosenberg trial. One of very few copies of Emanuel Bloch's appeal seeking to overturn the prosecution of the Rosenbergs at their infamous trial, signed by Bloch for submission to the Court of Appeals on the final page.Bloch (1901-1954), an attorney who focused on civil rights, was known for defending clients associated with left-wing and communist causes. The Rosenbergs, communists accused of sending atomic secrets to the Soviets, chose Bloch to lead their defence. The court found the Rosenbergs guilty of espionage in March 1951 and sentenced them to death in April, following a trial widely criticized as prejudiced and motivated by Cold War hysteria. J. Edgar Hoover dubbed the case, which attracted worldwide attention, "the trial of the century".The Rosenbergs were granted time to prepare the appeal, which Bloch submitted to the Circuit Court on 5 November 1951. Comprising 143 pages of argument, extensively referenced against other legal cases, and with an index, Bloch sets forth his legal case. It rests on three grounds: the government had not established definite guilt, the Rosenbergs had not been granted a fair trial, and the "cruel and unusual punishment" violated the eighth amendment. Besides the constitutional grounding, Bloch emphasizes the "frantic atmosphere" in which the Rosenbergs were arrested, placing the trial within the context of the panic caused by the Soviet Union's acquisition of the atomic bomb.The appeal

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