Fyke Farmer
Encyclopedia
Fyke Farmer was a Tennessee
lawyer who worked on the behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
.
. He married Fanny Richards Leake, daughter of Charles Richards Leake. They had a daughter, Dorothy Leake Farmer.
Farmer argued that the Rosenbergs were tried under the wrong law, claiming that the Atomic Energy Act
, which did not carry a death penalty, should have been applied rather than the Espionage Act of 1917
. On the basis of Farmer's arguments, a temporary stay was granted to the Rosenbergs by Justice William O. Douglas
on 17 June 1953. The United States Supreme Court vacated Douglas's stay by a vote of 6-3. The Rosenbergs were executed on 19 June 1953. In 1990 Farmer filed "United States ex rel. Farmer v. Kaufman" against Irving R. Kaufman, the judge who presided over the Rosenbergs' trial. His papers are archived at the Library of Congress
.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
lawyer who worked on the behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
.
Biography
He was born on November 25, 1901 in TennesseeTennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. He married Fanny Richards Leake, daughter of Charles Richards Leake. They had a daughter, Dorothy Leake Farmer.
Farmer argued that the Rosenbergs were tried under the wrong law, claiming that the Atomic Energy Act
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 determined how the United States federal government would control and manage the nuclear technology it had jointly developed with its wartime allies...
, which did not carry a death penalty, should have been applied rather than the Espionage Act of 1917
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime...
. On the basis of Farmer's arguments, a temporary stay was granted to the Rosenbergs by Justice William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
on 17 June 1953. The United States Supreme Court vacated Douglas's stay by a vote of 6-3. The Rosenbergs were executed on 19 June 1953. In 1990 Farmer filed "United States ex rel. Farmer v. Kaufman" against Irving R. Kaufman, the judge who presided over the Rosenbergs' trial. His papers are archived at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.