Congress has passed two federal laws known as the Sedition Act. The first was signed into law by President John Adams on July 14, 1798. The second was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on May 16, 1918, as a wartime amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917.1Government Publishing Office. 1 Stat. 596 – An Act in Addition to the Act, Entitled “An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States”2Government Publishing Office. 40 Stat. 553 – An Act To Amend Section Three, Title One, of the Espionage Act Both laws criminalized political speech critical of the federal government, and both were terminated after a few years.
The 1798 Sedition Act: Signed July 14, 1798
The Fifth Congress passed the Sedition Act during its second session, and President Adams signed it on July 14, 1798. It was the fourth and last of the four laws known together as the Alien and Sedition Acts, enacted during a period of rising tension with France. The statute was recorded as 1 Stat. 596 and formally titled “An Act in addition to the act, entitled ‘An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States.'”
The law created two offenses. Section 1 punished conspiracies to oppose federal measures or block enforcement of federal law. Section 2 made it a crime to publish “false, scandalous and malicious writing” against the government, either house of Congress, or the President with intent to defame them or bring them “into contempt or disrepute.” A Section 2 conviction carried a fine of up to $2,000 and up to two years in prison.1Government Publishing Office. 1 Stat. 596 – An Act in Addition to the Act, Entitled “An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States”
Truth was formally available as a defense, which appeared more generous than the English common law rule on seditious libel. In practice, most prosecutions targeted opinion and political commentary, which cannot be proved true in a courtroom. At least 26 people were prosecuted between 1798 and 1801, almost all of them supporters of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party.3Federal Judicial Center. The Sedition Act Trials Congressman Matthew Lyon of Vermont was convicted of publishing criticism of President Adams and sentenced to four months in prison and a $1,000 fine.4National Archives. Warrant for Punishment in the Case of U.S. v. Matthew Lyon He was reelected while jailed.
When the 1798 Act Expired
Section 4 of the act contained a built-in sunset clause providing that the law “shall continue and be in force until the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and one, and no longer.”1Government Publishing Office. 1 Stat. 596 – An Act in Addition to the Act, Entitled “An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States” That date coincided with the end of Adams’s presidential term. Jefferson pardoned those convicted under the law after taking office, and Congress later repaid some of the fines.5GovInfo. President Clinton’s Eleventh Hour Pardons The Supreme Court never ruled on the act’s constitutionality while it was in effect. Much later, in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), Justice William Brennan wrote that the “court of history” had found the act inconsistent with the First Amendment.
The 1918 Sedition Act: Signed May 16, 1918
President Wilson signed the second Sedition Act on May 16, 1918, more than a year after the United States entered World War I. It was not a freestanding statute but an amendment to Section 3, Title I of the Espionage Act of 1917, recorded as 40 Stat. 553.2Government Publishing Office. 40 Stat. 553 – An Act To Amend Section Three, Title One, of the Espionage Act The original 1917 law had criminalized false statements interfering with military operations, inducing insubordination in the armed forces, and obstructing recruitment. The 1918 amendments went much further.
Under the new language, it was a crime to use “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the form of government, the Constitution, the military, the flag, or military uniforms. The law also banned speech intended to bring those institutions “into contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute,” urging any curtailment of war production, and expressing support for an enemy nation by “word or act.” Penalties reached $10,000 in fines and up to 20 years in prison.2Government Publishing Office. 40 Stat. 553 – An Act To Amend Section Three, Title One, of the Espionage Act The Postmaster General also received authority to block mail delivery to people suspected of violating the act; letters would be stamped “Mail to this address undeliverable under Espionage Act” and returned.
The best-known prosecution was of Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs, who was convicted of obstructing military recruitment after a speech opposing the draft and sentenced to 10 years. He ran for president from prison in 1920 and received nearly a million votes before President Warren Harding commuted his sentence in 1921. Leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World were also imprisoned under the law.
When the 1918 Act Was Repealed
Congress repealed the 1918 Sedition Act amendments on December 13, 1920, roughly two years after the war ended. The underlying Espionage Act of 1917 was not repealed. Parts of that law remain in force.
Is There a Sedition Act in Force Today?
Neither Sedition Act is on the books. A separate federal statute, 18 U.S.C. ยง 2384, punishes seditious conspiracy: two or more people conspiring to overthrow the government by force, wage war against the United States, forcibly oppose federal authority, or forcibly seize government property.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2384: Seditious Conspiracy That statute requires force or a conspiracy to use force; criticism of the government does not qualify. A conviction carries up to 20 years in prison.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC Ch. 115: Treason, Sedition, and Subversive Activities The statute was rarely used for decades before the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach prosecutions, which produced 14 seditious conspiracy convictions, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
The First Amendment standard for punishing advocacy of illegal action is now set by Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), which allows punishment only when speech is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.”8Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) Under that test, a statute written like the 1798 or 1918 Sedition Act would face serious constitutional problems today.