Article III of the Constitution.

The definition of Treason in America.



By Steve Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law


In a nationwide survey released on Wednesday, Public Policy Polling asked Americans “What do you think is more treasonous: coordinating with Russia to win a presidential election, or not standing and applauding for Donald Trump?” Whatever one’s political beliefs or disposition toward the current president, the correct answer should have been “neither.” (Instead, 69% said it was the former.)
Among other things, the mere existence of this question underscores the need for a long overdue moratorium on the blithe characterization of things as “treason”— and for all of us to be far more careful when using that term to describe conduct that we believe is some combination of reprehensible, criminal and perhaps even impeachable.
Treasonous acts may be criminal, but criminal acts are almost never treason. As Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution specifies, “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” The Founders went out of their way to define treason narrowly because they knew how it had been repeatedly abused in the past.
The Founders went out of their way to define treason narrowly because they knew how it had been repeatedly abused in the past.

For much of the pre-revolutionary period in England, the accusation was a means of suppressing political dissent and punishing political opponents for crimes as trivial as contemplating a king’s future death (what was known as “compassing”), or speaking ill of the king (“lèse majesté”). King Henry VIII even had two of his six wives executed for alleged adultery on the ground that such infidelity was, of itself, “treason.” The English abuse of treason was anathema to a nascent republic dedicated to the rule of law and the right of peaceful dissent.
Thus, to ensure that treason could not likewise be co-opted for political or personal purposes, the Constitution’s drafters not only defined it precisely (it’s the only offense specifically defined in that document), but also specified that “No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.” (Article III also limits the punishment that can be inflicted, even with a conviction.)
As a federal appeals court explained in 1986: “[t]he reason for the restrictive definition is apparent from the historical backdrop of the treason clause. The framers of the Constitution were reluctant to facilitate such prosecutions because they were well aware of abuses, and they themselves were traitors in the eyes of England.” As a result, treason is, in some respects, the most specific crime in our legal system — and certainly among the hardest to prove. It’s also the only crime that can be used as the basis for expatriating a natural-born American citizen.Because of this history, a lot of things that might seem or feel like treason to casual observers do not, in fact, come close. In this context “enemies,” for example, must be countries against which Congress has formally declared war or otherwise authorized the use of force. (So contemporary Russia is out, whatever role it may have played in the 2016 election.) Even during the height of the Cold War, when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried, convicted and executed for conveying nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, the charge against them was espionage, not treason.


And “levying war” against the United States requires active and direct participation in an armed conflict, not just “un-American” speech or insufficient patriotism. Notably, and contra claims leveled against Edward Snowden or Hillary Clinton, it also do not mean the mishandling of classified information.
By those metrics, it should be obvious why it is not treason to either refuse to applaud the president or to collude with Russia to influence the outcome of a presidential election. To be sure, the latter, if proven, is light-years worse than the former. But treason is not defined by the gravity of the offense; it’s a crime indicating the clear support our enemies during wartime, period.
Treason is not defined by the gravity of the offense; it’s a crime indicating the clear support our enemies during wartime, period.

To be sure, there’s no law against the colloquial misuse of a legal term — nor should there ever be. But the more we use the t-word to refer to conduct that doesn’t remotely resemble the constitutional definition, the more we are — willfully — turning a blind eye to the sordid history of treason that led to its unique treatment in the U.S. Constitution.
And as the Spanish philosopher George Santayana reminds us, those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.



There are those posters who throw around the word "Traitor" with no discretion. An understanding of the word as our Constitution defines it is as above.

Is it illegal to label Manafort a "Traitor"?. He committed mainly financial crimes, was investigated,charged, arrested, indicted, and tried before a jury of his peers, and convicted. He will serve 47 months for his crimes. He is a FELON. Not convicted of Treason.
I Don't think his crimes rise to treason as defined by our Constitution.

But it is legal to hold that opinion under Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights.

In the hysterical view of some posters - my previous paragraph is wrong, will always be wrong, and no amount of education can change the opinion. That is just fine- One is entitled to an opinion under Articlel 1.

When One refuses education and persists in doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome, There is a descriptive word for the behavior I need not state.



Perhaps a different response other than Nazi, fake news, YDKYS, Russian Collusion, - but I hold little Hope.

Nazi, fake news, YDKYS, Russian Collusion

Predictable.

And uninformed.

Very Sad.

Predictable.

And uninformed.

Very Sad. Originally Posted by oeb11

as you may well know mystic don't know his stuff

So what was the point of posting that oeb11?

What is the contention for debate?

Are you defending Manafort?

Is he a victim of a witch hunt?

Methinks you doth protest too much.

Mystic is adjusting trolling because his momma didn't pay him enough attention.

So what was the point of posting that oeb11?

What is the contention for debate?

Are you defending Manafort?

Is he a victim of a witch hunt?

Methinks you doth protest too much. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

I believe his point was to point out how poster's like yourself and the rest of the merry band of leftest in the forum are always accusing the POTUS of treason and clouting with the Russians! "just saying"

So what was the point of posting that oeb11?

What is the contention for debate?

Are you defending Manafort?

Is he a victim of a witch hunt?

Methinks you doth protest too much. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

The term Treason is used injudiciously in this forum, IMHO
If someOne had bothered to read the post, someOne would have understood the reason for the in-depth post.

So Sorry if it exceeded anyOne's ability to comprehend the "thrust of the post".

Please read my post on the Manafort thread about his sentence.
He is a Felon.

Ah - someOne read Shakespeare - but please , get it Right.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" is a line from the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It is spoken by Queen Gertrude in response to the insincere overacting of a character in the play within a play created by Prince Hamlet to prove his uncle's guilt in the murder of his father, the King of Denmark.
I am proud holder of a Y chromosome, Thank You .

So what was the point of posting that oeb11?

What is the contention for debate?

Are you defending Manafort?

Is he a victim of a witch hunt?

Methinks you doth protest too much. Originally Posted by Yssup Rider

Methinks you doth post too much.

This treason and collusion thing is making a mountain out of a molehill. It's bull shit. To my friends on the left, do you think the CIA hasn't swayed elections? Historically we're as bad as the Soviets or the Russians, except for Stalin's regime. Arguably the millions that died in the Congo would't have if we hadn't gotten Patrice Lumumba killed and replaced by our man Mobutu. Then there was Sukarno in Indonesia, Diem in Vietnam, and more Latin American strongmen and leftists than you can shake a stick at.

Putin was pissed off at Secretary of State Clinton for egging on Russian protesters pissed off about the 2011 Russian election. So he authorized releasing her Emails and planting stories in social media. Big deal. This is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to some of the things our government has done in the past.

Methinks you doth post too much. Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

And think not enough.
Thank you - TWK!

Tiny - You bring a good point.

Thread started to show the mis-use of the word "treason"


US interventionism in the past is condemnable. We should not have done so.
Including that stupid, War in Viet Nam - based on McNamara convincing LBJ of the "dominos falling" philosophy.

Socialist regimes inevitably follow the Venezuela route and implode.

It is a good warning against military adventurism in Venezuela.

Socialist regimes inevitably follow the Venezuela route and implode.

It is a good warning against military adventurism in Venezuela