Jailed for their Words: When Free Speech Died in Wartime America is a documentary film which premiered in 2008. It was shown on US television (PBS) in 2018.
The topic of this film is the sedition laws against free speech which were adopted and enforced by the state of Montana during World War One.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Gita Saedi Kiely
** Narrator: J. K. Simmons
** Available on the PBS website
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 57 minutes
More than fifteen persons are interviewed in the film. Some are academic experts, while others are related to victims of the sedition laws. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
** Drew Briner – grandson of Herman Baucsh
** Farida “Fritzi” Briner – daughter of Herman Bausch
** Keith Edgerton – author of Montana Justice: Power, Punishment, and the Penitentiary (2004)
** Gladys Fletcher – neighbour of Janet and W. K. Smith 1916-1919
** Sharan Keyes – granddaughter-in-law of Fay Rumsey
** Anthony Lewis (1927-2013) – a reporter - author of Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment (2008) (2010)
** Marie van Middlesworth – daughter of Fay Rumsey
** Connie Miller – grand-niece of Martin Wehinger
** Mary Murphy – professor of history, Montana State University
** Burt Neuborne – professor of law, New York University
** Jeffrey T. Renz – Director, Criminal Defense Clinic, University of Montana Law School
** Judith Rumsey – granddaughter-in-law of Fay Rumsey
** Brian Schweitzer – governor of Montana 2005-2013
** Geoffrey Stone – professor of law, University of Chicago
** Dennis Swibold – author of Copper Chorus: Mining, Politics, and the Montana Press, 1889- 1959 (2006)
** Clemens P. Work – a professor of journalism – author of Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West (2005) (2006)
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to supplement and support the statements made by the participants. Archive footage is used when the narrator is talking.
In addition, some historical moments have been recreated by modern actors.
THE MONTANA SEDITION LAW
World War One began in 1914. At first, the US did not join the war. According to President Wilson, the war was a local conflict in Europe. It was not relevant for the US to get involved in this war.
Many Americans agreed with him. The general mood of the population supported American isolationism.
In November 1916, President Wilson ran for re-election and won using the slogan “He kept us out of the war.”
But only a few weeks later, the president changed his mind. In April 1917, he asked Congress to declare war on Germany. He wanted the US to join the war, siding with the Entente (France, the UK and Russia).
“The world must be made safe for democracy.”
This is, according to President Wilson, the reason why the US must join the war.
Congress gave him what he wanted. A declaration of war was passed in both chambers. From April 1917, the US was officially at war.
But Wilson knew that many Americans were not going to change their position on the war just because he had changed his position. The people had to be convinced. And dissent had to be silenced.
In June 1917, Congress passed the Act of Espionage. And this was just the beginning.
Some states decided to pass their own legislation to support the president and his policy of war.
They passed sedition laws to criminalize dissent and protest against local and federal government. The state of Montana adopted the most draconian version of these sedition laws.
Patrick Sauer reports:
“In February 1918, Governor Sam Stewart called an emergency session of the legislature and within days the Montana Sedition Law passed…
“In May 1918, the US Congress passed the Sedition Act, an amendment to the Espionage Act. It was almost a verbatim copy of Montana’s version, only three words were changed when President Wilson signed it into federal law.”
[The Smithsonian Magazine, 14 January 2015]
Around 200 persons were arrested in Montana as a result of this law. More than 100 were charged and tried in a court of law. Most of them were found guilty. The sentences handed out were harsh: 10-20 years in prison and fines up to 20,000 dollars.
What crimes had these people committed? Did they organize demonstrations or public meetings to protest the policy of the American government? No. They made a casual remark which offended some super-patriotic person who went on to report them to the police.
The Montana authorities were eager to stamp out any kind of dissent or protest. It could be something you said or did. It could even be something you did not say or do.
One man did not want to buy war bonds.
Why not?
Because he did not support war.
Because he was a pacifist.
This is a clear admission of guilt! This man must be a secret agent for the enemy! This man must be working for the German Kaiser!
He was arrested, charged and found guilty of violating the law. He was sent to prison.
Many others suffered a similar fate. They were victims of a war hysteria which caused many Americans to lose their common sense in 1917 and 1918.
In this film, the story of the Montana Sedition Law is covered in great detail. We learn what happened when people were jailed for their words; when free speech died in wartime America.
Clemens Work, a professor of journalism, became interested in the topic. He began to study the old documents and what he found made him so upset that he ended up writing a book about it:
Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West
(Hardcover 2005)
(Paperback 2006)
He simply wanted the public to know the story. He did a few public readings. In the audience there was a lawyer, Jeffrey T. Renz, who was intrigued by the case. Jeffrey talked to Clemens and said:
“These people were innocent. They should be pardoned.”
Clemens agreed. They decided to join forces. This was the beginning of a systematic campaign to secure a posthumous pardon of every person who had been a victim of the Montana Sedition Law.
(1) They established a website (the Montana Sedition Project) to publicize the case.
(2) They tried to find and contact people who were related to the victims.
(3) They tried to contact local politicians to get them on board.
Brian Schweitzer, who was at that time the Governor of Montana, was convinced that this case deserved his time and attention.
On 3 May 2006, he organized an official ceremony in which all known victims of the law were granted an official posthumous pardon. In many cases, a family member was present to receive the official document.
Here are the names of seven victims:
** Herman Bausch – born 1881 or 1882, died 1958
** Ben Kahn – born 1879, died ca. 1934
** Fay Rumsey – born 1868, died 1922
** Janet Smith – born 1876, died 1966
** W. K. Smith – born 1869, year of death is not known
** Ernest Starr – born 1870, year of death is not known
** Martin Wehinger – born 1860, died 1920
[A more detailed biography of each victim is available on the website = The Montana Sedition Project]
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film? This question is not easy to answer. The film is listed on IMDb but there is no rating and there are no reviews.
The film is not available from Amazon. There is no rating and there are no reviews.
What do I think? In my opinion, this is an important film about an important topic.
Free speech died in wartime America. Casual remarks were criminalized because of wartime hysteria.
Innocent people were sent to prison for stating an opinion which the US president had stated on numerous occasions before April 1917. After April 1917, it became a criminal act to make such a statement.
The story of the Montana Sedition Law and its victims is a dark chapter of American history. It is not well-known. But the story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent)
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
** Aliens and Dissenters: Federal Suppression of Radicals, 1903-1933 by William Preston (1963) (1994)
** Freedom Under Fire: US Civil Liberties in Times of War by Michael Linfield (1990)
** All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime by William Rehnquist (1998) (2000)
** Montana Justice: Power, Punishment, and the Penitentiary by Keith Edgerton (2004)
** Darkest before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West by Clemens Work (2005) (2006)
** Copper Chorus: Mining, Politics, and the Montana Press, 1889-1959 by Dennis Swibold (2006)
** Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment by Anthony Lewis (2008) (2010)
# 2. A website
# 3. Items available on the internet
Christina L. Boyd,
“Sedition Act of 1918,”
The First Amendment Encyclopedia,
2009
Patrick Sauer,
“The Year Montana Rounded Up Citizens for Shooting Off Their Mouths,”
The Smithsonian Magazine,
14 January 2015
Keith Edgerton,
Free Speech, Sedition and Montana During World war I,
MSU Billings
A PDF Document (35 pages)
*****
Jailed for their Words:
When Free Speech Died in Wartime America
(2008) (PBS, 2018)
*****
The file on Janet Smith
(1876-1966)
*****
Darkest Before Dawn:
Sedition and Free Speech in the American West
by Clemens P. Work
(2005) (2006)
*****
