Tuesday, February 22, 2005
An Injury to One is an Injury to All
"Whenever the United States shall be engaged in war, any person or persons who shall utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous, slurring or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the constitution of the United States, or the soldiers or sailors of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the army or navy of the United States…or shall utter, print, write or publish any language calculated to incite or inflame resistance to any duly constituted Federal or State authority in connection with the prosecution of the War…shall be guilty of sedition."---
"[W]e had no business sticking our nose in there and we should get licked for doing so. In the first place we don't have any soldiers to amount to anything and those that did amount to something didn't have any guns and those behind them would have to wait until the first ones dropped so the other fellows could pick up the guns and fire; that one German soldier could kill 5 or 6 American soldiers without any trouble, because we didn't have any experience and were not trained and didn't know anything about war..; that if people here could read the German papers they would get the right news and that U.S. papers were not getting the facts...”Martin Wehinger
Born in Dorbein, Austria, in 1860.
Sentenced 3-6 years---
"In substance as follows: that we (meaning the people and citizens of the United States) would have hard times unless the Kaiser didn't get over here and rule this country."
Fred Rodewald
Born in Hanover, Germany, in 1875,
Woodworker
Sentenced: 2-5 years
Witnesses testified that Janet Smith "advocated turning the stock into the crops to prevent helping the government." They said she declared the Red Cross to be a “fake,” and that "while she didn’t mind helping the Belgians with the relief work, the trouble was that the damned soldiers would get it." She allegedly sent back War Savings Stamps supplied by the Post Office Department. She denied all the allegations.
"If I could follow the dictates of my own judgement, I would either sentence you to a term in the state prison for your natural life, or I would order you banished entirely from the country…I would send you straight to Germany, where you would flourish and glory among the savages and barbarous people the Germans have shown themselves to be." -- Judge Spencer at sentancing
Janet Smith
Janet Smith, 42, born in Iowa
Postmistress, Sayle, Montana
Sentenced 5-10 years.
Husband Sentenced: 10-20 years and $20,000 fine
"Mr. Pollard, this is a rich man’s war," Kahn ventured.
Pollard warned him he could get in trouble for saying things like that.
Kahn turned to the food regulations enacted by the U.S. Food Administration under Herbert Hoover, popularly known as Hooverism.
"There’s nothing to that, it’s all a big joke," he said.
Pollard got up and walked over toward his office. Kahn followed.
"Well, if you feel that way about it, you must justify the sinking of the Lusitania," Pollard exclaimed.
"[The Americans] had no business in that boat," Kahn replied. "They were hauling over munitions and wheat."
“Anyone who says that is either a pro-German or an I.W.W. or a damn fool,” Pollard growled.
Kahn walked out of the hotel and visited several saloonkeepers on business. By lunchtime, he had been arrested for sedition.
The jury promptly found Kahn guilty...
Ben Kahn
Traveling Salesman, Sierra Campo Wine and Brandy Co., San Francisco.
Sentanced 7 1/2 to 20 years
1918, 87 years ago today Montana enacted the Montana Sedition Act. World War I had started, and though many in Montana refused to be drafted their fear of German spies and domestic Labor agitation prompted them to pass a law severly restricting their own rights. Three months later the US Goverment would pass the Sedition Act, which is now widely seen as the most sweeping violation of civil liberties in modern American history.
The Montana Sedition Act was used to convict 63 men and one woman in 1918 and 1919. The law had harsh criminal penalties 10 to 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine (in 1918 Dollars).
This has happened again and again and again...
SEC. 2. That if any person shall write, print, utter. Or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them. or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.
Required all aliens to be registered and fingerprinted. It also made it a crime to advocate or teach the violent overthrow of the United States, or to even belong to a group that participated in these actions. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in the case of eleven communist (Dennis v United States.) This decision was later modified in 1957 (Yates v United States.) The Court limited conviction to direct action being taken against government, ruling that teaching communism or the violent overthrow of government did not in itself constitute grounds for conviction.
§ 2385. Advocating Overthrow of Government.
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof--
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms "organizes" and "organize", with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.
"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." -- Benjamin Franklin
Source Material:
1st Draft: Author reserves the right to edit/modify this post
- posted by Anonymous @ Tuesday, February 22, 2005
