Congress criminalized seditious libel in 1798
In 1798 Congress passed four laws known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. One of them, the Sedition Act, made it a crime to publish “any false, scandalous and malicious writing” about the government or its officials.
Who was the first person charged with seditious libel?
John Peter Zenger was arrested and imprisoned for seditious libel in 1734 after his newspaper criticized the colonial governor of New York. Zenger spent nearly 10 months in jail before being acquitted by a jury in August 1735.
What was the purpose of the seditious libel?
Introduction. Seditious libel, which punishes those who lie about or criticize the government, “is a quintessentially political crime; its purpose is to protect the special veneration . . .
