Governor Schweitzer Signs Pardons for Those Convicted Under MT Sedition Act
Governor Schweitzer Signs Pardons for Those Convicted Under MT Sedition Act
United States Constitution - Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
At a ceremony today in the Capitol rotunda, Governor Brian Schweitzer signed posthumous pardons for 78 individuals that were convicted under the Montana Sedition Act of 1918. Family members of those being pardoned were present along with Clem Work, UM Journalism professor and author of Darkest Before Dawn, a book about the Montana Sedition Act, and the UM Journalism students and law students who have been researching the convictions.
"Freedom of speech is a fundamental and a constitutional right in times of war and peace alike," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. "Neighbors spying on neighbors and hindering freedom is not the America or Montana way. I would like to thank all those involved for their hard work on this project."
During the years of 1918 and 1919, 78 men and women in Montana were convicted, imprisoned and fined for making remarks critical of America, the President, the Government, the Flag or the War. They were convicted under the Montana Sedition Act of 1918.
According to research at the University of Montana, most of the persons convicted of sedition under Montana law worked at menial, blue-collar or rural jobs. Half were farmers, ranchers or laborers. Others worked as butchers, carpenters, cooks, teamsters, bartenders and saloon swampers.
More than half of the people sent to prison were born in Europe, many in Germany or Austria.
The research indicates the most dangerous place to open one's mouth was Custer County in southeast Montana. A total of 13 persons were tried for sedition in Miles City, the county seat; ten were convicted. Neighboring Rosebud County was four for four. In Helena, seat of Lewis and Clark County (and the state capitol), 11 men were tried for sedition and 10 were convicted.
Virtually all sedition convictions in Montana were based on witness accounts of casual statements, often in saloons, that were perceived as pro-German or anti-American. Strong or vulgar language figured in many cases and may well have contributed to convictions and sentences.
The repealed Montana Sedition law reads as follows:
Whenever the United States shall be engaged in war, any person or persons who shall utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous, slurring or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the constitution of the United States, or the soldiers or sailors of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the army or navy of the United States or shall utter, print, write or publish any language calculated to incite or inflame resistance to any duly constituted Federal or State authority in connection with the prosecution of the War shall be guilty of sedition. 1918 Montana Laws chapter 11, section 1.
For more information about the individuals receiving pardons and the Montana Sedition Act please visit http://www.seditionproject.net.
http://governor.mt.gov/news/pr.asp?ID=332