Boston Public Library

On Aug. 23, 1927, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. They were exonerated in 1977 by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts.

The New York Times article about the execution reported, “To the last they protested their innocence, and the efforts of many who believed them guiltless proved futile, although they fought a legal and extra legal battle unprecedented in the history of American jurisprudence.”

The Times article also reported that Mr. Sacco’s last words included a call of “Long live anarchy” in his native Italian, and farewells to his wife, children, friends and mother in English.

Mr. Vanzetti used his final moments to again assert his innocence and offer forgiveness to those involved in his execution. “I wish to tell you that I am innocent, and that I never committed any crime but sometimes some sin … I am an innocent man … I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me.”

Historians continue to debate the guilt or innocence of Mr. Sacco and Mr. Vanzetti. However, a Massachusetts Supreme Court report writes that, “on one subject, however, there should be no debate. Sacco and Vanzetti did not receive a fair trial.”

In an online exhibit dedicated to the case, the court discusses the unfavorable political climate during the time of the trial.

The crime and trial occurred during a time in American history referred to as the “Red Scare,” and was “marked by numerous labor strikes, widespread fear of radicals, and a series of bomb attacks against government officials.” World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia led to building anti-immigrant sentiment a strong prejudice against those espousing “radical ideas of anarchism, communism, or socialism.”

Within this context, “The trial judge permitted the prosecution to present extensive evidence about [Sacco and Vanzetti’s] anarchist ideology, immigrant background, and refusal to register for the military draft during World War I.”

On Aug. 23, 1977, Governor Dukakis signed legislation exonerating Mr. Sacco and Mr. Vanzetti. In the conclusion of his proclamation, Mr. Dukakis urged the citizens of Massachusetts to “pause in their daily endeavors to reflect upon these tragic events, and draw from their historic lessons the resolve to prevent the forces of intolerance, fear, and hatred from ever again uniting to overcome the rationality, wisdom, and fairness to which our legal system aspires.”

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In a 2007 Op-Ed article in The New York Times, Andrea Camilleri, an Italian novelist, discussed the enduring legacy of the case in Italy, noting, “There is probably not a single Italian newspaper that has not devoted an article to the case every Aug. 23 from 1945 to the present.”

Mr. Camilleri also noted the inspiration the story of Sacco and Vanzetti has been for artists working in a variety of media who strove to show sympathy for the men–some, decades after the men had been executed. These include films by Giuliano Montaldo and Sidney Lumet, music by Ruth Crawford (Seeger), Marc Blitzstein and Woody Guthrie (who recorded an album about the men in 1960, called “Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti”) and visual art by Ben Shahn, Rockwell Kent and Gutzon Borglum, among others.

Artists continue to respond through their work to what they view as injustice. Since the 1993 murder convictions of Damien W. Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who became known as the “West Memphis Three,” musicians like the members of Metallica, Henry Rollins, Natalie Maines and Eddie Vedder, and actors like Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder have spoken out, asserting the men’s innocence. They and others, including their fans, called for a re-trial, stating that the men had been victims of prejudice because of their “misfit” image. Tribute albums, benefit concerts and books all came about with the intent of bringing attention to what the artists viewed as a miscarriage of justice.

No DNA evidence from any of the defendants was found at the crime scene where three young boys had been savagely murdered. In subsequent years, new DNA evidence may implicate the stepfather of the murdered boys, a man whose appearance in two HBO documentaries about the case raised questions for many viewers about the true identity of the murderer or murderers.

Maines and Vedder were said to be in the courtroom on Aug. 19, 2011, when Echols, Balwin and Misskelley were freed. Echols had been sentenced to death, while the others were serving life sentences when the legal maneuver known as an Alford plea allowed them to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that the court had adequate evidence to convict them. They were released for time served.

Do you think that celebrities like musicians and actors should use their influence in matters involving the government, politics, international relations and so on? Why or why not?

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