Alien and Sedition Acts

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• 4/11/2021
  

  Prosecuting Sedition in a Divided Nation is a Challenge as Old as America

  by William H. Pruden III

  America's cultural value on free expression makes conviction of far-right radicals on sedition charges unlikely. The Ft. Smith, Arkansas trial in 1988 was a PR victory for the far right when 14 defendants accused of plotting against the government were acquitted. 

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  7/2/2020
  

  Our First Authoritarian Crackdown (Review)

  by Brenda Wineapple

  Wendell Bird argues that the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were used more broadly than historians have recognized, and reflect a shakier foundation of free speech in the early Republic. 

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• 10-30-16
  

  When is Dissent Treason?

  by Terri Diane Halperin

  It’s a question we’ve been asking since the birth of the Republic.