Background
Sara R. Ehrmann was born as Sara Emilie Rosenfeld in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Abe Rosenfeld, who was a business man, and Helen Emelie Rosenfeld.
Sara R. Ehrmann was born as Sara Emilie Rosenfeld in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Abe Rosenfeld, who was a business man, and Helen Emelie Rosenfeld.
Best known for her work on the Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, which launched her young career as an abolitionist in 1925, Ehrmann became an influential abolitionist and vital leader of the Massachusetts Council for the Abolition of the Penalty (1928–1969) as well as the American League to Abolish Capital Punishment (1949–1969). Additionally, Ehrmann was involved in Jewish and women"s organizations as well as protecting civil life in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1917, Sara married Herbert B. Ehrmann, an assistant defense councilman for the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.
Similar to Sara, Herbert was also active in both civic affairs and the Jewish community.
They had another son later on, Robert Lincoln. From 1927 to 1967, Ehrmann led the fight against the death penalty in Massachusetts.
In 1951, Ehrmann had her first major career victory. At the time, the death penalty was the mandatory ruling, so this ruling was called "the mercy law," and was her foot in the door toward absolute reform.
Ehrmann in an interview with The Boston Globe: —
"I had a firm conviction that it is unnecessary and wrong to take lives in punishment for crime.
lieutenant is a great source of evil in the community."
In 1972, the death penalty was abolished due to a Supreme Court ruling. However, just four years later, the same ruling was altered so that capital punishment was allowable if certain protective measures were considered. lieutenant wasn’t until 1980 that the ruling was again reviewed and overturned by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court as both unconstitutional and “impermissible in the commonwealth”.
Ehrmann resided in Brookline until she died of natural causes at the age of 97 on March 18, 1993.
Her body rests in Temple Israel Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts. As a leading figure on the Massachusetts Council for the Abolition of the Penalty, Ehrmann continuously made the efforts of the organization public as well as personally appealed to Massachusetts governors and councillors alike.
Due to her tireless efforts, Massachusetts" last execution occurred in 1947. Ehrmann in an interview with The Boston Globe: —
“To every possible question that I"ve asked myself to justify the death penalty, I"ve never found a satisfactory answer.”
lieutenant was her hope that more young and capable abolitionists would take her place and continue her efforts.
Ehrmann also believed in the sanctity of prisoners" rights and was a member of the United Prison Association and Friends of Framingham. Under her leadership, Massachusetts law was reconstituted so that it allowed members of the juror to vote for life instead of execution when a person was convicted for first-degree murder. In 1967, Ehrmann retired as Council President, but stayed on as a member of its board.
