Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti emigrated to the United States from Italy in 1908. They resided in South Braintree, Massachusetts where Sacco worked as a shoe worker and Vanzetti as a fish peddler.

Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested, May 5, 1920, and charged with the murders of F. A. Parmenter and Allessandro Beradelli. The crimes were committed during a robbery of a shoe factory where the victims were employed as paymaster and guard. Sacco and Vanzetti were brought to trial, May 31, 1931 at Dedham, Massachusetts. The sensational trial lasted seven weeks. and during that time serious legal questions concerning the American system of justice were raised as well as ethical questions related to the treatment of the immigrant men. They were found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death. The case received international attention as it was widely believed that Sacco and Vanzetti were tried and convicted more for their radical, anarchist beliefs than for the crime for which they were tried. Their cause was taken up by Socialists, intellectuals, journalists, academics, and other citizens. Defense committees were organized to petition for appeals on their behalf, and committee members included Anatole France, Albert Einstein, Henri Barbusse, Frank G. Goodnow, Fabian Franklin, Edgar Lee Masters, and Bliss Perry. Felix Frankfurter, John Dos Passos, and Elizabeth Glendower Evans published material dealing with the case and the apparent judicial improprieties. All efforts for a retrial and finally, a pardon were denied. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed, August 23, 1927.

In 1959, a proposal was submitted to the legislature of Massachusetts to recommend a retroactive pardon for Sacco and Vanzetti. This proposal was also denied.