Testimony Will Test Ethel Rosenberg's Innocence

A judge's order to release grand jury testimony in 1950 may shed light on whether Ethel Rosenberg really was a spy for the Soviet Union. Ethel and her husband were put to death in 1953 for conspiring to give nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
In his ruling this week, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein noted that the testimony of Rosenberg's brother was crucial to the case. Her brother said in interviews that prosecutors pressured him into falsely testifying against his sister.
The judge said the testimony could be unsealed now because her brother died last year at 92.
The government could still appeal the ruling. A government spokeswoman declined to comment.
Hellerstein wrote that the locked pieces of information are important in our nation's history, and should be open to the public.