Justifying Suppression: The Sedition Act of 1798 as Evidence of Framers' Intent.

Autor/in	Herbeck, Dale A.
Titel	Justifying Suppression: The Sedition Act of 1798 as Evidence of Framers' Intent.
Quelle	(1990), (28 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Constitutional History; Constitutional Law; Court Judges; Court Litigation; Federal Legislation; Freedom of Speech; Political Issues; United States History + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Verfassungsgeschichte; Staatsrecht; Richter; Rechtsstreit; Bundesrecht; Redefreiheit; Politischer Faktor
Abstract	The Bill of Rights contains a set of simple statements about the rights which citizens may claim in disputes with the government. Those who suggest that the First Amendment has always represented a strong commitment to free speech ignore the historical lesson offered by the Sedition Act of 1798. The early American republic maintained careful neutrality between warring France and Britain. Federalists, suspicious of the Republicans' friendship with the French, won congressional passage of the Sedition Act. The statute criminalized criticism of the American government. At that time, the government was in the hands of the pro-British Federalists, while much of the criticism leveled at that party came from certain Republican newspapers and legislators. Federalists defended the Act as necessary to the defense of the United States. The law was expressly designed to suppress any and all political opposition to Federalist leadership and policies. Republican-dominated Southern legislatures bitterly attacked the constitutionality and desirability of the Sedition Act, not for the limits it placed on speech, but for the fact that it increased federal power over the states. The story of the Sedition Act casts serious doubt on the notion that the founding fathers intended the First Amendment to be a libertarian statement designed to protect every speaker and every utterance. The Constitution represents principles which must be applied to the present, irrespective of how they have been interpreted in the past. (Seventy-two footnotes are included.) (SG)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC