Author: Richard Briles Moriarty

Richard Briles Moriarty. Retired from a 42-year legal career in 2016, with the last 28 years as an Assistant Attorney General with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Moriarty specialized in civil litigation in Federal and State trial and appellate courts. A highlight was persuading the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari from a Circuit decision and then securing a unanimous reversal. In prior legal lives, he practiced in Legal Services offices, operated a sole practitioner office, and directed part of the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division. Moriarty has, in retirement, focused his research efforts on the endlessly fascinating Thomas Paine.

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Critical Thinking Posted on

Was Thomas Paine a Secret Tory? It Defies Common Sense

Did Thomas Paine actively write against the American cause after emigrating from England in late 1774 and only opportunistically pretend to support the cause? When Paine was nominated for a Congressional position in April 1777, did delegate John Witherspoon hurl those accusations against Paine?[1] As other delegates were undoubtedly well aware, Witherspoon knew Paine personally. […]

by Richard Briles Moriarty