Mont. governor pardons 78 in sedition case - By MATT GOURAS, AP, Albany Times Union, NY
While some of the comments seem shockingly benign, others were less so. But even those who cussed the president and the flag should not be considered criminals, said Work, whose book, 'Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West,' inspired law students at the university to write petitions for the pardons and help find family members.
'These people merely expressed their opinions and made derogatory or critical remarks about the U.S., the war, the soldiers or the flag,' he said.
Under Montana's sedition law, it was illegal to make 'any disloyal, profane, violent, scurrilous, contemptuous, slurring or abusive' comment about the Constitution, the federal government, soldiers or sailors, the flag or the uniforms of the Army or Navy.