Rosenberg was sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1962 double homicide of two New York City police officers during a robbery carried out with two other Mafia-connected gangsters.

Shortly before it was to take place,[2] he was granted a stay of execution by Governor Nelson Rockefeller based on new laws that greatly reduced the use of capital punishment in New York.

Late on the 9th, in discussions with observers whose presence at Attica had been requested by the rebels, 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.

[4] That night, observer Herman Schwartz, an attorney and law professor known for his commitment to the cause of prisoner rights, managed to get an injunction against “physical or other administrative reprisals” signed by both the Commissioner of Corrections Russell G. Oswald and, at 3:30 a.m., a Western District judge.

[5] However, when Schwartz presented a copy of the document to the men occupying the prison's D Yard, Rosenberg grabbed it and tore it to shreds, arguing not only that it was invalid for lack of the judge's seal, but also that it failed to address the key demand for immunity from criminal prosecution.

[6] Over the three days of negotiations that followed, the issue of full amnesty (including protection from criminal charges) proved to be a sticking point, with state officials consistently refusing to countenance the demand.