[justshutupandtakeit]

The A and S acts made it a crime to LIE about the government. Truth was a defense to charges under those acts but NOT under the State laws which Jefferson's supporters used to prosecute and silence his enemies. See Croswell vs. New York for an example of such persecutions.

[FirstPrinciple]

I hope you know that the Alien and Sedition Acts were the death-knell for the Federalist Party. The Founders were not immune from mistakes, except they internalized the cost. I bet both political parties will only grow stronger from this.

[PhilipFreneau]

>> The A and S acts made it a crime to LIE about the government.

Actually there were two parts to the Sedition Act.

The first part had the strongest punishment, and no mention was made of untruthfullness. It stated:

"Unlawfully to combine or conspire together to oppose any measure of the government of the United States, &c.This section was not complained of. "

The 2nd part, with the weaker punishment, is the one you are referring to. It made it a misdemeanour to publish false, seditious writings against government, as follows:

"To write, print, utter or publish, or cause it to be done, or assist in it, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President, with intent to defame, or bring either into contempt or disrepute, or to excite against either the hatred of the people of the United States, or to stir up sedition, or to excite unlawful combinations against the government, or to resist it, or to aid or encourage hostile designs of foreign nations."