Rules: No current Presidents, V.P.s or current Presidential candidates. (Please no knee-jerk answers like any Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, any Bushes, etc.) Thanks. I'm talking pretty much ordinary citizens.
2007-12-31 07:23:17 · 9 answers · asked by ronmikell14 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I think John Walker Lindh and Azzam the American have committed treason by taking up arms against their country. Although it is difficult to prove treason in a court of law because it is difficult to collect evidence on an overseas battlefield.
2007-12-31 07:41:48 · answer #1 · answered by superyankbmw 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hanoi Jane Fonda
2007-12-31 07:44:50 · answer #2 · answered by Jubal S 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Treason is pretty much trying to overthrow the governmnet.
"Aid and comfort" has traditionally meant money, arms, sheltering "freedom fighters". ("One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter:" Ronald Reagan on Iran-contra rebels).
last people actually tried for treason war that Jewish couple back in the 50s accused of giving plans for the H-bomb to the soviets.
Of course the group in Waco, TX a while back was accused of treason, among other things. But the FBI kinda took them out with extreme prejudice.
And possibly the lawyer in Portland, OR who was implicated in the terrorist bombing in Madrid by the FBI because he converted to Islam. trial judge tossed the case with prejudice and Justice settled for large, undisclosed amount for damages.
2007-12-31 07:39:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that John Walker Lind, the so-called "Marin Taliban," committed treason. Raising arms against the U.S., and fighting with the Taliban after 9/11, sounds like treason to me.
Happy New Year!
2007-12-31 07:35:41 · answer #4 · answered by Rick K 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They stole and gave plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviets.
2007-12-31 07:34:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
That would be such things as selling computer or missile technology to any foreign government, including nuclear, etc., information (such as the Rosenbergs: they got their deserts!)
2007-12-31 07:32:34 · answer #6 · answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Treason is an obvious criminal act against your country. Examples are selling military secrets to other nations or terrorist organizations.
2007-12-31 07:30:07 · answer #7 · answered by Your #1 fan 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma City Bomber. Not Lust Treasonous But Cowardly Also
2007-12-31 07:28:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Treason is defined in the Constitution. "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."
It is, in fact, the ONLY crime defined by the Constitution, because, throughout history, rulers have tended to define "treason" as "doing something I don't like".
Since the people who 'wrote' the Constitution had just successfully committed treason themselves, they wanted to write a very narrow definition, so that any future attempts to overthrow the government should it, in turn, become despotic, could not be punished as treason.
"Treason never prospers, here's the reason: For if it prosper, who dare call it treason?" (Shakespeare)
If you read the history books, no traitor has ever succeeded in his plot. Why? Because if he succeeds, he gets to WRITE the history books, and he will be remembered as a patriot, not a traitor.
We remember Washington, Jefferson and the rest as Patriots, even though they were sworn officers of the British Crown who betrayed their oaths and rebelled, and we remember Benedict Arnold as a traitor, even though he stayed loyal to his oath. Had the revolution failed, children today would learn about the traitors Washington and Jefferson, and the patriot Benedict Arnold who thwarted them.
Richard
2007-12-31 07:27:39 · answer #9 · answered by rickinnocal 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋