Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
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Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
Letter from Dallas County Criminal District Attorney Henry Wade to Max E. Causey dated March 19, 1964, thanking Mr. Causey for his service as a juror in the Jack Ruby trial. Causey was the foreman on that jury.Typed on Mr. Wade's official letterhead for "Dallas County Texas", the full text is as follows: "Henry WadeDistrict AttorneyRecords BuildingDallas, Texas 75202March 19, 1964Mr. Max E. Causey[address]Dear Mr. Causey:Kindly accept this letter as my personal thanks for your juryservice in the Jack Ruby case. It is realized that your juryservice created many hardships upon yourself and family but itshould be stated that regardless of such matters you met a verygreat responsibility with courage and intelligence. For thisI am deeply thankful.Your verdict is most outstanding because it will deter othersfrom so wantonly taking human life without due process of law.The framers of our Constitution provided for trials by jurybecause of their unquestioned faith that the American citizen would follow the law and require its enforcement. Your verdicthas again proven the correctness of the jury system and has given renewed faith in the American citizen as a person who will meet the responsibilities of such citizenship.Again let me thank you for your verdict and service as a juror.For such I shall ever be grateful.Sincerely yours,HENRY WADE[Mr. Wade signed his name in blue ink and underlined it]Criminal District AttorneyDallas County, TexasHW:sc"
Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
03/19/1964
Paper
11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Max Causey Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2002.051.0046
As the first juror selected for the Jack Ruby trial, thirty-five-year-old Max E. Causey spent the longest time sequestered on an upper floor of the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building. Causey was unable to visit his family, watch television or read newspapers, or have outside communication of any kind from February 20 to March 14, 1964. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
During the course of the trial, Max Causey kept a longhand diary in a reporter's notebook documenting the trial and jury deliberations. After the trial, he wrote a memoir from the diary. In 2000, both the memoir and the diary were published as a book, The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited: The Diary of Jury Foreman Max Causey. - Krishna Shenoy, Librarian/Archivist
To learn more about Max Causey's experiences as foreman of the Jack Ruby trial jury, please see record 2002.051.0094, which is for the journal of handwritten notes he kept during the trial. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
Letter from Dallas County Criminal District Attorney Henry Wade to Max E. Causey dated March 19, 1964, thanking Mr. Causey for his service as a juror in the Jack Ruby trial. Causey was the foreman on that jury.Typed on Mr. Wade's official letterhead for "Dallas County Texas", the full text is as follows: "Henry WadeDistrict AttorneyRecords BuildingDallas, Texas 75202March 19, 1964Mr. Max E. Causey[address]Dear Mr. Causey:Kindly accept this letter as my personal thanks for your juryservice in the Jack Ruby case. It is realized that your juryservice created many hardships upon yourself and family but itshould be stated that regardless of such matters you met a verygreat responsibility with courage and intelligence. For thisI am deeply thankful.Your verdict is most outstanding because it will deter othersfrom so wantonly taking human life without due process of law.The framers of our Constitution provided for trials by jurybecause of their unquestioned faith that the American citizen would follow the law and require its enforcement. Your verdicthas again proven the correctness of the jury system and has given renewed faith in the American citizen as a person who will meet the responsibilities of such citizenship.Again let me thank you for your verdict and service as a juror.For such I shall ever be grateful.Sincerely yours,HENRY WADE[Mr. Wade signed his name in blue ink and underlined it]Criminal District AttorneyDallas County, TexasHW:sc"
Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
03/19/1964
Jury
Verdict
Jack Ruby trial
Letters
Letterhead
Wade, Henry M.
Causey, Max
Dallas County District Attorney's Office
Dallas
Garland
Paper
11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Max Causey Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
2002.051.0046
As the first juror selected for the Jack Ruby trial, thirty-five-year-old Max E. Causey spent the longest time sequestered on an upper floor of the Dallas County Criminal Courts Building. Causey was unable to visit his family, watch television or read newspapers, or have outside communication of any kind from February 20 to March 14, 1964. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
This item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
During the course of the trial, Max Causey kept a longhand diary in a reporter's notebook documenting the trial and jury deliberations. After the trial, he wrote a memoir from the diary. In 2000, both the memoir and the diary were published as a book, The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited: The Diary of Jury Foreman Max Causey. - Krishna Shenoy, Librarian/Archivist
To learn more about Max Causey's experiences as foreman of the Jack Ruby trial jury, please see record 2002.051.0094, which is for the journal of handwritten notes he kept during the trial. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections
Related objects
Warren Commission exhibit #56 - photocopied letters written by Lee Harvey Oswald
1962 - 1964
Max Causey's journal of his experiences on the Ruby trial jury
02/20/1964
Letter and envelope from Eva Grant to Grace Bevers dated December 2, 1965
12/02/1965
List of selected jurors for the State of Texas vs. Jack Ruby trial
02/20/1964 - 03/03/1964
