But as to the former part of her statement, that she could never have her freedom of speech removed is, I believe, entirely incorrect. Not only is her freedom of speech currently at risk, but this is nothing new in the US. The first suspension of this constitutional right came as early as 1798.
The Sedition Act of 1798 was passed by John Adams’ federalist government. It criminalised the making of statements that criticised the federal government. The Act was used by the Adams government to prosecute newspaper owners if they favoured the views of the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party.
One person who was attacked was David Brown, who was fined and imprisoned for publishing the words, “No Stamp Act, No Sedition Act, No Alien Bills, No Land Tax, downfall to the Tyrants of America.” Another was James Callender, who accused the president as a “repulsive pedant, a gross hypocrite and an unprincipled oppressor”.
Those who opposed the passage of the Act stated that it violated the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right to free speech. They were quite correct.
The Act was repealed when Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801. He pardoned those who had been imprisoned and repaid their fines. But the silencing of citizens did not end there. It returned a mere 60 years later.
In 1861, President Lincoln unilaterally suspended the writ of habeas corpus (the right to appear before a judge when accused of a crime). In essence, he ordered that persons could be arrested and held without bringing formal charges against them. The claimed purpose was to allow the government the ability to hold prisoners of war, but it was subsequently used to muzzle the press. Newspapers that criticised the president were closed for seditious behaviour and their editors arrested and imprisoned.
Over 14,000 civilians were arrested by the Lincoln administration. After the war, the suspension of the right to free speech was ended, but only until the next war.
The Sedition Act of 1918 made illegal “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the US government, the national flag or the military. Sentences ranged from five to twenty years.
The Sedition Act was purported to be needed only “when the United States is in war”, and it was repealed just two years after World War One (although the Supreme Court upheld the Sedition Act constitutionally in 1919 – Abrams v. United States).
Since then, the punishment for sedition has become more general. In 1950, McCarthyism began sedition persecution outside of wartime, paving the way for persecution under the claim of “domestic terrorism”.
As shown above, the stated reason for such punishment is rarely the true intent. The people of a nation will readily accept legislation that sounds as though it will protect them in time of war, but it has regularly been used to limit free speech, generally.
This time around, the act was not repealed a few years later. In fact, the Patriot Act was extended in 2011, followed closely by the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Together, these laws eclipsed all previous sedition acts in their breadth and have made possible a permanent and growing police state in the US.
Above, we can see that the suspension of freedom of speech during wartime is not a new idea. In fact, it’s been the norm. But what about the present day, when Congress no longer declares wars, but the US invades countries continually, by presidential edict alone? The US is now waging the “forever war” – the war on terrorism. Does that mean permanent suspension of the right to free speech? Well, actually, yes, and an entire department has been created to enforce it – the Department of Homeland Security.
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The Sedition Act has now become a permanent condition in the US, and Europe is not far behind. Still, when such removals of freedom took place in the Soviet Union and Germany in the last century, most people remained there, hopeful that they could live with the outcome. As it turned out, that was a fatal mistake for literally millions of people.
For those who presently reside in a country where basic freedoms are disappearing, it’s instructive to note that there are many other countries in the world where this is not so. For many, the wise move is to vote with their feet and internationalise themselves.