Attorney, author and social/political activist Robert Meeropol is slated to speak on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. at Amherst’s Jones Library as part of the annual Thomas Paine birthday observance. Meeropol will address the recent controversy involving Wikileaks’ release of classified information in the context of the Espionage Act of 1917—the act under which Meeropol’s parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were prosecuted, convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and executed in 1953, when he was six years old.
Paine, born in 1737, was a founder of the United States and the author of the Revolution-era document Common Sense, originally published anonymously, which was a hugely popular pro-independence pamphlet. Royalties from its sales were donated to George Washington’s Continental Army. Paine was also a vocal proponent of free thought and free speech and a strong supporter of human rights.
Meeropol, the author of the memoir An Execution in the Family, has described the Espionage Act of 1917 as “a lifelong nemesis,” saying that it served to squelch opposition to World War I, criminalized criticism of the war effort and turned dissent into treason. In recent years, the extent of the Rosenbergs’ involvement in the transmission of secrets to the former Soviet Union has been seriously questioned, and many believe the couple’s crimes did not even approach the level of high treason or capital offense.
“The Act does exactly what the Constitution prohibits,” Meeropol says. “To this day, it has been a sword of Damocles, awaiting the right political moment and an authoritarian Supreme Court to spring to life and slash at dissenters.”
In his talk, Meeropol will discuss rumors that the United States is preparing to indict Wikileaks leader Julian Assange for conspiring to violate the act.
The event is organized by Irwin and Martha Spiegelman, and will feature politically themed songs performed by Tom Neilson as well as instrumental music by Celtic harpist Sarah McKee. Admission is free, and the program concludes with refreshments, including cake in celebration of Paine’s 274th birthday.
