Finding, Framing, and Hanging Jefferson: A Lost Letter, a Remarkable Discovery, and Freedom of Speech in an Age of Terrorism (April 2009): 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.
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