Marching over the thin line between free speech and sedition

When do words stop being free speech and become a criminal act?

That is the question underlying the arrest of nine members of a self-styled militia unit in Michigan on charges of sedition and rebellion. This past week a federal judge while hearing whether to release the nine on bail, pointedly questioned the strength of the government case.

The government "need not wait until people are killed before it arrests conspirators," U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said, as reported by The Associated Press. "But the defendants are also correct: Their right to engage in hate-filled, venomous speech is a right that deserves First Amendment protection."

Prosecutors claim the defendants, who call themselves the Hutaree, planned to kill police officers as part of a plot to create an uprising that would overthrow the federal government.

In a surveillance recording the leader of the Hutaree was overheard saying "it's time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny."

Acts that violate Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 115, Section 2385 of the U.S. Code include:

“Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing …”

Does this blog posting qualify?

Read more in Sunday's column.