The Trial of Alger Hiss The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg The Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer. At the height of the cold War American democracy was challenged by the anti-Communist atmosphere of the McCarthy era. IN THE NAME OF SECURITY re-opens three famous spy cases that rocked America between 1948 and 1954: Alger Hiss Julius & Ethel Rosenberg and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Each hour-long program combines dramatic re-enactments based on original trial transcripts archival material new evidence the latest assessments of American historians and scientists and the commentaries of relatives and friends of the accused.