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4-12-2006

Sedition Project/ Project's formal filing of a pardon petition With Gov. Brian Schweitzer

University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations

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Recommended Citation University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations, "Sedition Project/Pardon Project's formal filing of a pardon petition With Gov. Brian Schweitzer" (2006). University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present. 19638. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases/19638

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MEDIA ADVISORY: News conference

TIME & DATE: 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

WHERE: Castles Center, UM Law Building

TOPIC: Sedition Project/Pardon Project’s formal filing of a pardon petition With Gov. Brian Schweitzer

SPEAKERS: Law Professor Jeff Renz and Journalism Professor Clem Work

BACKGROUND The Sedition Project/Pardon Project is asking the to grant posthumous to 77 men and women convicted under Montana’s draconian sedition law in 1918 and 1919. Professor Renz and Work will discuss the project, as well as the support they have solicited from First Amendment scholars and historians nationwide. Following is text from the letter sent to scholars and historians that provides background for this fascinating news story:

"We are asking the governor o f Montana to grant posthumous pardons to 77 men and women convicted under Montana's draconian sedition law in 1918 and 1919. Our point is that these people should never have been punished for criticizing the government. Posthumous pardons would affirm this state’s commitment to free speech and stand as a shining example at a time when war once more is causing government’s commitment to First Amendment principles to waver.

We are seeking support from First Amendment scholars and historians for this action through a letter we are circulating (attached) and the underlying petition (attached). Others who have signed so far include Ron, Geof Stone, Norman Dorsen, Eugene Volokh, Lucy Dalglish, David Skover, Burt Neuborne and Marjorie Heins, as well as historians David Kennedy and Richard White.

Short background: My legal and historical research resulted in a book published last fall, 'Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West" (University of New Press, 2005). A few o f the stories o f the sedition prisoners are told in the book and in brief on our project website (www.seditionproject.net) with links to more detailed information.

You would not be terribly surprised to know that these 77 people were convicted by inflamed juries, often for drunken or casual outbursts, very rarely fo r anything written, and never for making anything that came close to a true threat. There is proof that some were goaded by "third degree committees" into making "disloyal" statements, or were turned in by political or personal enemies or by those who coveted their land or - more important - water. Montana's draconian law essentially gave people permission to exercise over-heated patriotism, nativist impulses and baser motives. In one example, Ben Kahn, a young liquor salesman representing a San Francisco company, was convicted in Red Lodge, near Billings, fo r allegedly having said that the federal wartime food regulations were "a big joke." Unfortunately he said it to a hotel proprietor who was chairman of the local defense council and was arrested before lunchtime. He received a sentence o f 7.5 to 20 years (and served 34 months).

Law and journalism students determined to seek pardons for those convicted. The Chicago Tribune carried a front-page story on the project last Dec. 28, which was reprinted across the country. The project is coming to a climax with our petition to the governor, seeking his executive action. We are very hopeful o f a positive response. ”