While
America has gone a century and a half without being “war-torn” in
the conventional sense, the damage of war is not limited to that
inflicted by guns and bombs.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
2 - The Espionage and Sedition Acts: Protecting Americans from
themselves
Reaching
back a century ago, the memory of World War I is faint. “The Great
War,” as it was called at the time, killed millions and arguably
changed the face of war forever. While the war did not take place on
U.S. soil, it too brought great change to America, with Orwellian
consequences that still persist today.
In 1917,
President Woodrow Wilson decided that the country needed to be
protected from “the insidious methods of internal hostile
activities,” and went to great lengths to restrict freedom of
speech and criminalize dissent.
One of
the results of Wilson’s efforts was the Espionage Act of 1917.
Though it was similar to past laws dealing with espionage, the
Espionage Act was unique in the sense that it deemed anyone a
criminal who published information during times of war that the
president declared to be “of such character that it is or might
be useful to the enemy” or may “attempt to cause
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty [draft
dodging].” The act passed with a wide majority in both houses
of Congress. For those found guilty, the legislation imposed a fine
of up to $10,000 and up to 20 years in prison.
Another
piece of legislation passed a year later went even further in curbing
domestic dissent by limiting speech. The Sedition Act, an amendment
that extended the Espionage Act, officially forbade the use of
“disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” that
cast the U.S. government, its armed forces, or even the national flag
in a negative light or led others to view the U.S. government and its
institutions with contempt during times of war — regardless of
whether the information expressed was true. It also prohibited speech
that interfered with the sale of government bonds designed to fund
the war effort.
Though
it was repealed in 1920, the Sedition Act ultimately paved the way
for similar legislation that would regulate speech during peacetime
in the years to come.
The
acts were also used to entirely dismantle the progressive left in the
United States. For instance, Victor Berger, the first socialist
elected to Congress, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for
“hindering” the war effort, and legendary socialist leader Eugene
Debs received 10 years in prison for making a single anti-war speech.
Today,
a revised version of the Espionage Act of 1917 continues to be used
by the U.S. government to prosecute whistleblowers like Chelsea
Manning, John Kiriakou and Jeffrey Sterling, among others, as well as
journalists and publishers like Julian Assange.
However,
it is worth remembering that, in times of war, the Espionage Act
becomes a much more powerful curb on speech and, given that the U.S.
uses the law to target whistleblowers in times of peace, the war
powers it bestows on the government are sure to be used if and when
the U.S. enters into another major war.
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