The FOIA documents released in the ‘80s/’90s make it clear that Ethel was a no-shit threat to US national security, an honest-to-goodness Atomic Spy, and that Julius was very likely a (somewhat unwilling) participant bullied into the gig by a strong-willed spouse.
After the sentences, the government had no special interest in actually killing either one of them, as the atomic spooks were regarded as excellent likely sources for scads of information about how GRU/KGB was conducting their US operations. Julius was viewed, probably correctly, as a potential fountain of information about Soviet intelligence ops in the US, while the FBI conceded that tough ole Ethel was never, ever going to give up anyone.
The capital sentences were 1) entirely legitimate, and 2) a heavy-handed Justice Department play intended to crack Julius, the thinking being that the poor sap was so completely in love with his formidable wife that he would do everything in his power to divert her from the death chamber. But Ethel was stout all the way to the end and managed to sufficiently buck up Julius that he kept his mouth shut right to the end.
If prosecuted today, Ethel would still catch a death sentence and Julius probably life without parole, but they were both guilty, as guilty as poor old Alger Hiss, and all the public outrage in the world wasn’t going to change that.
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