Damn. Still no one charged with insurrection or sedition.
Your loony rhetoric is still DOA
There's a reason for that
The problem is not just an overly broad statute, but the statute’s very symbolism: The purpose of a political crime is to send a message, and invoking the concept of sedition sends an undemocratic message to the broader public.
A political charge is appropriate, but sedition is the wrong one.
The right political charge is, instead, “rebellion or insurrection,” which criminalizes “any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof.” The statute,
18 U.S.C. § 2383 provides:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
Notice the high level of specificity: While seditious conspiracy targets the use of any kind of “force,” § 2383 takes aim at a much narrower range of conduct, specifically a “rebellion or insurrection.” Furthermore, while seditious conspiracy criminalizes force used to obstruct “the execution of any law” (emphasis added), § 2383 targets insurrections “against the laws[,]” which is used synonymously with an insurrection against the “authority of the United States.” It is true that under § 2383 the punishment is a maximum of 10 years, while seditious conspiracy permits the greater punishment of 20 years. However, prosecutors have
plenty of options to
tack on additional years to prison sentences, and the overall sentence can likely be the same regardless of whether the prosecutor chooses seditious conspiracy or insurrection.
Only a political charge against the leaders of the Jan. 6 insurrection will send the message that the United States will not tolerate direct attempts to overturn the peaceful transfer of power. But the Justice Department should be careful not to choose a charge that is dangerously open ended. Restoring faith in democracy requires not only punishing leaders of the mob for insurrection but also ensuring that in the process the government does not open the door to branding as traitors those who engage in ordinary crimes or political activity.
The Justice Department’s pursuit of criminal charges against the perpetrators of the Jan. 6 mob invasion of the Capitol is gathering steam, but it should resist using the seditious conspiracy statute.
www.lawfareblog.com