Finding Jefferson: A Lost Letter, a Remarkable Discovery, and the First Amendment in an Age of Terrorism

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Overview

"Alan Dershowitz found an important letter from his hero that relates to freedom of speech, incitement, and terrorism—subjects about which Alan has thought and taught for decades. This book is a wonderful adventure story that uses Jefferson's arguments and Dershowitz's counters to illuminate issues that were important and difficult when the U.S. was a new nation and that remain so today. I recommend it to every citizen concerned with preserving our liberties and combating terrorism."
—President William Jefferson Clinton

"The 1801 letter of Thomas Jefferson to Elijah Boardman is of tremendous interest and importance, as is the remarkable story of its discovery by Alan Dershowitz."
—David ...

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Overview

"Alan Dershowitz found an important letter from his hero that relates to freedom of speech, incitement, and terrorism—subjects about which Alan has thought and taught for decades. This book is a wonderful adventure story that uses Jefferson's arguments and Dershowitz's counters to illuminate issues that were important and difficult when the U.S. was a new nation and that remain so today. I recommend it to every citizen concerned with preserving our liberties and combating terrorism."
—President William Jefferson Clinton

"The 1801 letter of Thomas Jefferson to Elijah Boardman is of tremendous interest and importance, as is the remarkable story of its discovery by Alan Dershowitz."
—David McCullough

Pulitzer Prize–winning author

"Finding Jefferson is terrific on every level: as a memoir of a passionate collector, it is delightful; as an account of an important historical discovery, it is riveting; as a defense of free speech, it is brilliant."
—Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

"What a treasure this book is, just like the stuff Dershowitz scours the old archives for. It is unexpected, revealing and resonant with a central fact of our Republic—we are still stitched together by words, and their complicated progeny, ideas. From a simple, fortuitous discovery, Dershowitz has fashioned an elaborate and engaging argument, one we will be thinking about for ages."
—Ken Burns, director and producer of The War and Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Reviews

Karen J. Greenberg
Finding Jefferson is a thoughtful reflection on the "threat posed by Imams who preach violence" and whether we should make it illegal for such people "to continue to preach their hatred."
—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly

Contemplating whether the government could censor imams whose preaching might incite terrorism, Harvard law professor Dershowitz (Blasphemy) wondered what Thomas Jefferson would say about "where to draw the appropriate line, between dangerous speech and harmful conduct." Dershowitz found an answer in New York's Argosy Bookstore, where he stumbled over a letter written by Jefferson on July 3, 1801, addressing the limits of free speech, especially religious and political speech. Based in part on his reading of Jefferson, Dershowitz concludes that we ought not to censor the speech of even the most violent religious leaders. Echoing Jefferson, he says that liberty is dangerous and adds that in any case censorship would not prevent either violence or incitement to it. This book is not without its annoyances: it opens with a self-indulgent tour through the many objects Dershowitz likes to collect, from baseball paraphernalia to the odd picture of Abraham Lincoln, and the bulk of Dershowitz's ruminations are cast in a long letter to Jefferson-a distracting device. These meditations from one of our most provocative constitutional scholars may not evoke as much controversy as have his earlier suggestions that there be warrants for interrogators to use torture in limited circumstances, but the main contribution here is the publication of Jefferson's letter. Photos. (Nov.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
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Library Journal

A remarkable discovery leading to a remarkable book. As indicated by the subtitle, Dershowitz (Harvard Law Sch.; The Case for Israel) serendipitously located and then purchased a lengthy statement by Thomas Jefferson touching upon freedom of speech. The statement is not only notable for its contribution to our understanding of this eminent American's thoughts on the subject, as well as those of the Founding Fathers in drawing the original constitutional limitations on expressive speech and actions, but is of vital importance in illuminating current debate on the subject of terrorism and the right to express unpopular opinions and politics. Entrusted to a scholar of note and a prolific writer not fearful of engaging in cutting-edge arguments, the letter leads to a fascinating exchange of views that will provide signal assistance to anyone vitally interested in politics, civil liberties, and constitutional rights. In addition, the author engages in a lively recitation of his lifelong passion for collecting rarities and treasures, which many share. Given its clear explanation of the debate surrounding the right to speak out, as well as its genuinely amusing elements, this book should be made available to a wide-ranging readership in all general libraries.
—Gilles Renaud

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780470167113
  • Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 11/9/2007
  • Pages: 256
  • Product dimensions: 5.91 (w) x 8.52 (h) x 0.92 (d)

Meet the Author

Harold Ramis, film director,screenwriter, and actor

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, is one of the country's foremost appellate lawyers and a distinguished defender of individual liberties. His many books include the #1 New York Times bestseller Chutzpah, Preemption: A Knife That Cuts Both Ways, and the Wiley books The Case for Israel, also a New York Times bestseller; The Case for Peace: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved; What Israel Means to Me; and Blasphemy. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Foreword.

Acknowledgments.

Part I: The Collector and His Passions.

Chapter I: My Passion for Collecting.

Chapter II: My Passions for Freedom of Speech, Criminal Law and Thomas Jefferson.

Part 2: The Letter.

Chapter III: Finding the Jefferson Letter.

Chapter IV: The Provenance of the Jefferson-Broadman Letter.

Part 3: My Letter to Jefferson.

Chapter V: Where we have come since 1826.

Chapter VI: Jefferson's First Argument: An Expressed Opinion Can Never Constitute An Overt Act.

Chapter VII: Jefferson's Second Argument: If Conscience Is the Umpire Then Each Judge's Conscience Will Govern.

Chapter VIII: Jefferson's Third Argument: "We Have Nothing To Fear From The Demoralizing Reasonings Of Some, If Others Are Left Free To Demonstrate Their Errors".

Chapter IX: Jefferson's Fourth Argument: "The law stands ready to punish the first criminal act produced by the false reasoning".

Chapter X: Jefferson's Fifth Argument.

Part 4: What Would Jefferson Say About Terrorism And Speech Today?

Chapter XI: Jefferson's Views On The "Terrorism" Of His Era.

Chapter XII: Jefferson's Actions in the Burr Case.

Chapter XIII: Jefferson's Views on Torture, Habeus Corpus and Other Issues Currently Debated in the Context of Terrorism.

Chapter XIV: How Would Jefferson Strike the Balance Between Freedom of Speech and Prevention of Terrorism?

Chapter XV: My View, as Influenced by Jefferson and the Experiences of Our Time.Notes.

Index.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 18, 2008

    Distorting Jefferson's Religious Belief

    I have read 'FINDING JEFFERSON' and have found it well written and interesting. However, Dershowitz states on page 53 that Jefferson's 'god was the god of nature rather than the god of the bible.' I agree with Jefferson's view of god as I know of Jefferson's god, and I find Dershowitz's statement to be incorrect. As support of my viewpoint, I refer the reader to: 'THE JEFFERSON BIBLE, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,' Beacon Press, Boston, 1989, preface by Forrest Church. In a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson described his thoughts as, â¿¿the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity, I am indeed opposed: but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself.'

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