6 ms·

Is "treason" legal or moral? How do you define it? Would shooting the president by treason? What if the opinion of the shooter is that killing the president is

by corin_ 13y ago

Is "treason" legal or moral? How do you define it? Would shooting the president by treason? What if the opinion of the shooter is that killing the president is good for the country?

dalke 13y ago
In the US, it's defined by the Constitution, Article 3 Section 3. "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 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. The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted." Quoting from http://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/annotation24.html http://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/annotation24.html : Thus, the Framers adopted two of the three formulations and the phraseology of the English Statute of Treason enacted in 1350, 1285 but they conspicuously omitted the phrase defining as treason the ''compass[ing] or imagin[ing] the death of our lord the King,'' 1286 under which most of the English law of ''constructive treason'' had been developed. 1287 Beyond limiting the power of Congress to define treason, 1288 the clause also prescribes limitations upon Congress' ability to make proof of the offense easy to establish 1289 and its ability to define punishment. 1290. Thus, I don't see how shooting the president (even 'for the good of the country') leads to a treason charge. That link also gives a summary of the few Supreme Court cases regarding treason charges. There isn't much, in part because most of the offenses you might come up with are already covered by other laws. For example, 18 USC Sec. 1751 specifically covers "Presidential and presidential staff assassination, kidnapping, and assault."
- malandrew 13y ago
  I'm honestly surprised that they've never tried to apply treason to cases involving drugs. After all it is a "war on drugs".
  - dalke 13y ago
    Figurative wars don't count in this case. Consider also the "War on Poverty."

by corin_ 13y ago

Is "treason" legal or moral? How do you define it? Would shooting the president by treason? What if the opinion of the shooter is that killing the president is good for the country?

dalke 13y ago

In the US, it's defined by the Constitution, Article 3 Section 3. "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 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. The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted." Quoting from http://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/annotation24.html http://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/annotation24.html : Thus, the Framers adopted two of the three formulations and the phraseology of the English Statute of Treason enacted in 1350, 1285 but they conspicuously omitted the phrase defining as treason the ''compass[ing] or imagin[ing] the death of our lord the King,'' 1286 under which most of the English law of ''constructive treason'' had been developed. 1287 Beyond limiting the power of Congress to define treason, 1288 the clause also prescribes limitations upon Congress' ability to make proof of the offense easy to establish 1289 and its ability to define punishment. 1290. Thus, I don't see how shooting the president (even 'for the good of the country') leads to a treason charge. That link also gives a summary of the few Supreme Court cases regarding treason charges. There isn't much, in part because most of the offenses you might come up with are already covered by other laws. For example, 18 USC Sec. 1751 specifically covers "Presidential and presidential staff assassination, kidnapping, and assault."

malandrew 13y ago
I'm honestly surprised that they've never tried to apply treason to cases involving drugs. After all it is a "war on drugs".
- dalke 13y ago
  Figurative wars don't count in this case. Consider also the "War on Poverty."