Our co-founding partner, Sanford Jay Rosen, represented the victims of the May 4, 1970 Ohio National Guard shooting of students on the Kent State University Campus in retrial and settlement of their damages claims in 1978-79. He had secured reversal of the judgment against them in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Krause v. Rhodes, 570 F.2d 563 (6th Cir. 1977). The opening statements in the retrial of the damages cases are available here: Krause v. Rhodes Retrial Opening Statements 1978.
Less than a week after the shootings, Sandy was at Kent State conducting an investigation for the national ACLU. When he returned to New York, he proposed a multi-faceted litigation program which was implemented by the ACLU.
Since 1978, Sandy has spoken about 10 times at the annual May 4th memorial at Kent State University. He was supposed to speak again this past May 4th, but the in-person memorial was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has written frequently about the events surrounding and following the May 4, 1970 shootings. His most recent writing was published by the Kent State University Press in a collection of essays entitled The Cost of Freedom, edited by Susan Erenrich. Sandy’s piece, “The Kent State Shootings After Nearly 50 Years,” is available here courtesy of the publisher: Rosen – The Cost of Freedom.