In the all-time notorious Rosenberg atomic secrets spy trial (1951), after the guilty verdict was brought in, the judge, Irving Kaufman, had an ex parte meeting with the prosecutor, Irving Saypol, to which the defense attorneys weren't invited. He asked Saypol if he intended to ask for the death penalty for both defendants, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were parents of 10-year-old and seven-year-old boys. Saypol said he wwould. Kaufman instructed him to travel immediately to DC to get the opinions of his boss, the Assistant Attorney General for criminal matters, and J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI, and to report to the judge at his apartment as soon as he returned.

Saypol returned that evening and told Judge Kaufman that both parties wanted death for Julius but not for Ethel, because they believed Americans wouldn't countenance giving the chair to a mother of two small boys. So, Kaufman ordered Saypol not enter a recommendation at sentencing. On the day of sentencing, Kaufman put on a great performance. He said that the "burden of sentencing" them was "so great" that he "excused" prosecutor Saypol from having to make a recommendation. He claimed he spent "many sleepless nights" pondering what to do, and "prayed to my Maker for guidance." Then he sentenced both to death for "the greatest crime in human history...because of your crimes, 50,000 American boys are dead in Korea" and countless others' lives were threatened because the Rosenbers "stole the secret of the atomic bomb and handed it to the Russians."

That grandstand performance, Kaufman hoped, would land him a seat on the Supreme Court. He never got it because those and other of his improprieties at the trial followed him for the rest of his career.