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Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade

Letter addressed to Max Causey from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade

Object number2002.051.0046
Date03/19/1964
ClassificationsDocuments
Author Henry M. Wade
ObjectLetter
Credit LineMax Causey Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumPaper
Dimensions11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Collections
DescriptionLetter 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 Wade District Attorney Records Building Dallas, Texas 75202 March 19, 1964 Mr. Max E. Causey [address] Dear Mr. Causey: Kindly accept this letter as my personal thanks for your jury service in the Jack Ruby case. It is realized that your jury service created many hardships upon yourself and family but it should be stated that regardless of such matters you met a very great responsibility with courage and intelligence. For this I am deeply thankful. Your verdict is most outstanding because it will deter others from so wantonly taking human life without due process of law. The framers of our Constitution provided for trials by jury because of their unquestioned faith that the American citizen would follow the law and require its enforcement. Your verdict has 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 Attorney Dallas County, Texas HW:sc"
Curatorial Commentary
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