Weekly 7

      
       Sacco and Vanzetti were in an unfavorable position before the trial even began. Two  factors included: 1) that they were Italian immigrants in a time period when foreigners were not openly welcome and were considered suspicious for their differences and 2) that they were anarchists. The Italians emigrated to the United States in June of 1908 then, several years later, fled to Mexico for four months with other anarchists to avoid public or military service. During the Red Scare, the anarchist newspaper Sacco and Vanzetti wrote for exposed their names to the public for the first time. Around this time, many crimes were being committed and planned such as bomb plots and murders and Sacco and Vanzetti always seemed to be near by. These incidents cast a suspicious shadow over these two immigrants. Sacco and Vanzetti worked with other anarchists such as Ferruccio Coacci, Roberto Elia, Andrea Salsedo and Mario Boda who also seemed to be involved with several crimes around Massachusetts. Ferruccio Coacci told O. L. Root, the Bureau of Immigration Inspector, that he did not report as he was scheduled because he needed to care for his sick wife. A chief police looked into Coacci's story and went to his house to find Coacci's wife in fine health, and him packing a suitcase and insisting on leaving immediately. Suspicious cases similar to that of Coacci occurred often in the time when Sacco and Vanzetti were most active with their anti-government actions. On August 23, 1927, two men were murdered in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Sacco and Vanzetti were in the area at that time and were convicted with the murder. There was a highly politicized dispute over their innocence or guilt, as well as whether the trials were fair or not. The case presented was so weak because no hard evidence could prove their guilt or innocence. Several witnesses could identify Sacco and/or Vanzetti but did not have to pick them out of a line up or say them commit the crime. The first trial was held on Christmas Eve, 1919 and only Vanzetti was tried for an attempted robbery and murder (this was not a strong conviction either though). The second trial was for the murder Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of committing in South Braintree. Vanzetti testified that he had been selling fish at the time of the Braintree robbery and Sacco testified that he had been in Boston, applying for a passport at the Italian consulate. These men had a history of lying to officers, however; and few people could barely confirm they were at the scene of the crime. Weak, unhelpful, evidence like this continued for a significant amount of time and eventually the judges had to make a decision. Based on their unfavorable background by being Italian immigrants and anarchists, the lying and suspicious behavior didn't help their situation very much. Finally, on April 9, 1927, Judge Thayer heard the final statements from Sacco and Vanzetti and sentenced them to death via the electric chair. Based on the lack of hard evidence, I would argue in favor of Sacco and Vanzetti's innocence, even considering their criminal history or different ethnicity.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm