Assume that the following was enacted by the Congress of the United States:
Breach of Loyalty: Any citizen of the United States who believes that the government of the United States shall be overthrown or abolished through force and rebellion shall be guilty of breach of loyalty and punished with life imprisonment.
I. M. Extreme, a 55-year-old male who lives in Florida, was in a bar playing poker with five individuals whom he had met for the first time earlier in the evening. The discussion during the game turned to politics and Extreme commented, “I believe the government is all corrupt. Jefferson said a rebellion now and then is a good thing. Americans should load their guns and teach Washington a lesson.” His statements were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by one of his poker friends who turned out to be a local police officer. Extreme has been charged with violating the Breach of Loyalty statute.
Discuss his best arguments/defense(s) to this charge, based on the materials that we have learned in Chapters 1-2. (This is based on the Critical thinking scenario #3 on pages 66-67 of your text.) Today, 7th Edition
ISBN: 9780135730386
By: Frank Schmalleger