In a message dated 3/28/2002 4:55:48 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> As an attorney, do you think you could persuade a jury to believe the
>  allegations against Jefferson?
Dear Mr. Hardwick:
The book by Annette Gordon-Reed was essentially a lawyer's brief that never
could quite demand a verdict of guilty, but drifted around the evidence until
it could be massaged into a pretty strong hope of guilt. If the accused is
not Jefferson, but say you, or your brother, what is the evidence on which
you would convict - that he owned slaves? That is, of course, a different
issue, not then a crime, but today is viewed by many as a failure of moral
standing. But I fail to see why you, and in general, the academic community,
sees more in slavery other than a historical fact. Do you believe it lessens
today the moral stature of Jefferson- that somehow the promise his words have
brought to us and to the world is no longer valid?
____________________________________________________________________
Richard E. Dixon
Attorney at Law
4122 Leonard Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-691-0770 fax 703-691-0978
____________________________________________________________________

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