Case library · Treason
A Speech Against the War
Ex parte Vallandigham (1864)
Charge: Publicly expressing sympathy with the enemy and uttering disloyal sentiments, contrary to a military commander's general orderCourt: U.S. Supreme Court (on certiorari to a U.S. military commission)State: OhioDocket: Treason
The facts
While the country was at war, a politician spoke at a public meeting. He called the war wicked, cruel and unnecessary, and said it was being fought to crush liberty rather than to save the country. He also attacked the commanding general's order that made such speech an offence, calling it a base grab at arbitrary power. Soldiers arrested him at his home. He was tried not by a jury in a courtroom but by a commission of army officers.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Ex parte Vallandigham, 68 U.S. (1 Wall.) 243 (1864)
Read more at supreme.justia.com. The source reveals the outcome.