Alien and Sedition Acts: The Sedition Act Summary

First Amendment; First to Be Thrown Out.

  • Section 1: Anybody looking to oppose the laws of the land are going to be fined $5,000 and locked up from six months to five years.
  • Section 2: No talking or writing anything speaking against the government.
  • Wait, what? How was that legal?
  • Section 3: Anyone prosecuted because of this act gets to pretend it's a libel trial and can try to prove what they said was true.
  • Section 4: This expires on March 3, 1801.