13 Facts About Jerry Rosenberg

Jerome "Jerry" Rosenberg was a New York State convict, mobster, and jail house lawyer.

Jerry Rosenberg was incarcerated for 46 years, longer than any other prisoner in New York State history.

Jerry Rosenberg's sentence was commuted to life in prison in June 1965, after capital punishment was abolished in New York.

Jerry Rosenberg went on to become the first New York State inmate to earn a law degree and in turn gave legal advice to several inmates, including the leaders of the Attica Prison riot.

In 1962, Jerry Rosenberg took part in the robbery of Borough Park Tobacco Company in Brooklyn alongside two other Italian-American Mafia-connected gangsters.

Jerry Rosenberg was incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility at the time of the 1971 rebellion.

Jerry Rosenberg was instrumental in articulating demands for immunity from legal and other reprisals.

Late on the 9th, in discussions with observers whose presence at Attica had been requested by the rebels, Jerry Rosenberg produced a draft of an injunction that, if it could be endorsed by a judge, might prevent state employees retaliating against participants in the revolt after it had ended.

Circa 1986, Jerry Rosenberg was resuscitated when his heart stopped beating during open heart surgery; in 1988, he unsuccessfully argued before a judge that he had died and that this therefore meant that he had served his life sentence.

Jerry Rosenberg frequently assisted other prisoners with legal issues as a jailhouse lawyer and estimated he was involved in over 200 lawsuits.

Jerry Rosenberg was transferred to Wende Correctional Facility in 1991, serving, among other positions within the prison, as paralegal assistant for three years in the law library.

Jerry Rosenberg died of natural causes in June 2009 at the age of 72, having served 46 years in state prisons, the longest of any inmate in New York State penal history.

The film omits and avoids any further criminal activity Jerry Rosenberg participated in during his incarceration.