Tapping Reeve of Litchfield is revered in the history of the Connecticut legal system. The founder of the first law school in the United States, Reeve remains to this day a venerated figure in Connecticut legal circles. His law school still stands, a physical testament to the enormous influence it had in the early years of not only Connecticut but the Republic itself. Numerous significant political and legal figures were among its graduates.

Today, it seems unimaginable how Reeve would find himself a federal criminal defendant. As in our own era of political battles waged in the federal judicial arena, wanton partisanship by Thomas Jefferson and his followers supplies the answer.