What Are the Treatments for Sedition in the American Judicial System?
- TheFreeDictionary.com defines sedition as "conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state." Basically, sedition is conduct or language that incites insurrection but does not rise to the level of treason, which is defined as openly declaring war against the United States or aiding its enemies. For a statement or action to be considered seditious, it must constitute a "clear and present danger" to American rights and freedoms.
- The earliest sedition laws date to Colonial times and were enshrined in British common law. In his "Commentaries," Sir William Blackstone defined the crime of "seditious libel" as any public statement meant to defame or ridicule the government or government officials. While seditious libel was rarely punished under Colonial law, it did restrict freedom of speech. Political writers and pundits were afraid to openly express their opinions for fear it might constitute seditious libel. Even after the U.S. Constitution was enacted, speaking out against the government could still be considered sedition, due to the Sedition Act of 1798. This law allowed the prosecution of anyone who made false statements intended to defame the government or government officials. The law expired in 1801, shortly after the election of President Thomas Jefferson, who staunchly opposed it.
- Shortly before the Sedition Act expired, a Congressman from Vermont named Matthew Lyon was found guilty of seditious libel for saying that he could not support the Adams administration because he believed they were acting only in their own best interests. Jefferson later pardoned Lyon and everyone else convicted under the law. Even after the Sedition Act expired, prosecutions still occurred. Socialist leader Eugene Debs was convicted for speaking out against World War I, and Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were convicted for passing out anti-draft leaflets. In 1940, leaders of the pro-Nazi organization The German-American Bund were convicted under the anti-sedition law known as the Smith Act.
- Even today, prosecution for sedition still occurs. Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was convicted of sedition in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and was sentenced to life in prison. There was not sufficient evidence to prove that Rahman was guilty of treason, but he was convicted of sedition for providing encouragement and support to the bombers. The so-called American Taliban, John Walker Lindh, was also convicted of sedition for conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals. Lindh, a U.S. citizen, had attended terrorist training camps in the Middle East and was actively conspiring against the government. He was sentenced in 2002 to 20 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.