Fyke Farmer

Fyke Farmer (November 25, 1901 - May 23, 1997), was a Tennessee lawyer who worked on the behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. [cite news|author link=E. Thomas Wood|url=http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/6/17/nashville_now_and_then_a_lawyers_last_gamble_and_a_universitys_divorce|work=NashvillePost.com |quote=Farmer, working at no charge against the opposition of not only the government but also the Rosenbergs' legal team, had showed up at Douglas's chambers without an appointment, on the day after the high court adjourned for the term. Farmer convinced the jurist that the Rosenbergs had been tried under an invalid law. If they could be charged with any crime, he asserted, it would have to be a violation of the Atomic Energy Act, which did not carry a death penalty, rather than the Espionage Act of 1917. |title=Nashville now and then: A lawyer's last gamble|accessdate=2007-08-08|date=2007-06-17]

Biography

He was born on November 25, 1901 in Tennessee. He married Fanny Richards Leake, daughter of Charles Richards Leake. They had a daughter, Dorothy Leake Farmer. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Farmer - Bush |url= |quote=Announcement has been made by Mr. and Mrs. Fyke Farmer of the engagement of their daughter, Miss Dorothy Leake Farmer of New York, to John Bush, ... |work=New York Times |date=April 5, 1959 |accessdate=2008-08-01 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Farmer - Leake|url= |quote=Miss Fanny Richards Leake, daughter of Charles Richards Leake of 359 West End Avenue, was married to Fyke Farmer of Nashville, Tenn., son of Mr. and Mrs. ... |work=New York Times |date=November 15, 1928 |accessdate=2008-08-01 ]

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. [cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/farmer.html |title=Fyke Farmer Papers |accessdate=2008-08-01 |quote= |publisher=Library of Congress ]

References