Can a president accuse members of Congress of seditious behavior? While a president can say things, we are a nation of laws, not citizens’ feelings. Let’s examine the law:
Treason vs. Sedition Legal Penalties
Treason (18 U.S.C. § 2381) still carries a possible death penalty by statute. Still, convictions for treason are extremely rare and require proof of levying war against the U.S. or adhering to enemies with aid and comfort.
Seditious conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384) and rebellion/insurrection statutes (§ 2383) do not carry a mandatory death penalty; penalties are fines and/or long prison terms (seditious conspiracy historically up to 20 years; insurrection/rebellion up to 10 years).
Other related federal offenses (e.g., conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding) likewise carry a prison sentence, not a death sentence as the standard statutory punishment.
Military Law and Civilian Accusations
Some have mentioned the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). This code states that service members must follow lawful orders but must disobey unlawful or patently illegal orders. An example of an illegal order is war crimes. (What patently illegal order has been issued, by whom, and why?)
Regarding the current news, members of Congress are civilian officials. If they advise service members to disobey orders, it is not necessarily a capital offense. One would need proof that a capital offense (like sedition) has been committed. A likely defense by a member of Congress would be the Speech and Debate Clause. Also, if said congressman’s offense is considered grievous, each house of Congress retains the right to expel its own members by a two-thirds vote. This is the most severe penalty for a member of Congress. It is not easily invoked.
Any president is considered a civilian, a key provision of the Constitution. We the People maintain civilian control over the military through the president in our Constitutional Republic. When any president makes accusations against members of Congress, know that this does not change criminal statutes or create military penalties.
In Summary
Saying a member of Congress committed seditious behavior does not by itself make them punishable by death under ordinary federal law; only treason has death as a statutory option and is rarely applied, while seditious conspiracy generally carries a prison term, not death.
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