AllMovie

Commander Maddox (Brian Brophy), the officer presiding over Starbase 173 demands that Data be taken apart for study. The argument is that Data is merely "property" and not a living being. This assertion is particularly painful to Guinan, who equates Maddox's attitude with that of Southern slaveholders during the Civil War; it is on this base that Picard mounts his defense of the hapless Data. Written by Melinda Snodgrass, "The Measure of a Man" was originally telecast February 18, 1989.