Finding Jefferson - by Alan Dershowitz

About the Book

Writing in the same engaging and humorous style that made "Chutzpah" and "The Best Defense" such strong sellers, Dershowitz shares how he came across a forgotten letter by Thomas Jefferson that has important implications for the country today.

Book Synopsis

The #1 New York Times bestselling author, Harvard Law School professor, and tireless defender of civil liberties unearths a little-known letter by his hero, Thomas Jefferson, and shares its secrets. The letter illuminates Jefferson's views on freedom of speech in a way that has important implications for the country today, particularly in the struggle against terrorism. This book is about the remarkable letter Dershowitz found, how he found it, and why it matters not only to him, but to us today.

From the Back Cover

Freedom of speech, the right to voice one's opinions without fear of government reprisal, is one of America's most dearly held principles--championed by the founding fathers, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, and exercised with passion and frequency by Americans of every persuasion. What happens, however, when a speaker publicly exhorts others to violent acts that threaten to cause injury or death? Can a line be drawn between speech that incites violence and that which does not, or is all speech protected under that Bill of Rights? Even Thomas Jefferson himself was silent on the subject--until now.

In Finding Jefferson, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Alan Dershowitz tells a remarkable story about how his passion for collecting led him to a discovery of tremendous historical and present-day importance. On September 8, 2006, in a dusty old Manhattan bookstore, he found an 1801 letter written by his hero Thomas Jefferson that speaks directly to the issue of intentionally harmful or dangerous speech.

Dershowitz, writing with the ardor of a collector, the energy of an advocate, and the rigor of a scholar, verifies the letter's authenticity, explains its importance within the context of Jefferson's writing, and, in true Dershowitzian style, takes his hero to task, point by opinionated point.

Finally, Dershowitz applies his extensive knowledge of Jefferson to the question of whether to restrict free speech in an age of terrorism and suicide bombings, when deterrence is rarely an option. Quoting freely from Jefferson's many writings on law, rights, and national survival, and citing his actions during the Aaron Burr treason trial, Dershowitz presents a compelling case that, today, Jefferson would probably opt for some narrow restrictions against speech intended to incite violence but would insist on protecting all other types of speech.

Engaging and passionately written, Finding Jefferson is compelling reading for anyone interested in free speech, American history, and the conflict between individual rights and national security in the face of terrorism.

Review Quotes

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.) (Publishers Weekly, September 3, 2007)

About 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.