Following the “assault” on the Capitol where protestors were invited in an ushered through an open door by police, a bunch of talking heads on mainstream news have been talking about charging them with sedition. No surprise, President elect Biden even called the act “insurrection that borders on sedition.”
This is the guy who is going to defend the constitution?
While insurrection and rebellion are actually crimes under the Crimes Act, insurrection has the requirement that it is aimed against the government and is usually aimed to take it over. The protesters certainly weren’t planning on taking over, and were actually protesting for the government (albeit a rather unpopular head of government).
As for sedition. It isn’t a crime. According to Collins American Dictionary, “Sedition is speech, writing, or behavior intended to encourage people to fight against or oppose the government.”
You know, precisely what Biden and all of Trump’s opponents have been doing for the past 4 years.
Perhaps a more accurate description of sedition is an election campaign against the incumbent leader.
It was briefly a crime in the US. The Sedition Act of 1918 was enacted at the end of WWII to broaden the Espionage Ace. This was repealed in 1920.
Previously, John Adams signed the Sedition Act of 1798 which made it illegal to make “false statements” critical of the US government. This was so unpopular that it helped him lose the next election. Jefferson pardoned everyone convicted under this act, which in retrospect was probably unconstitutional.
But hey, Biden can defend the constitution in his own way right?
P
Comments are closed.