Gov Schweitzetr posthumously pardons 78 who were convicted of sedition during World War I

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

HELENA, Montana (Reuters) - Before a packed crowd in the state Capitol, Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed pardons on Wednesday to clear the names posthumously of 78 Montanans convicted of sedition during World War One.

[...]

"Across this country it was a time in which we had lost our minds," the governor said. "So today in Montana, we will attempt to make it right. In Montana, we will say to an entire generation of people, we are sorry. And we challenge the rest of the country to do the same."

Montana passed the Sedition Act in 1918 amid an anti-German fervor, and it became the model for the Federal Sedition Act of 1918. The Montana Legislature created the Montana Council of Defense, which banned the use of the German language, even in church pulpits, and barred a number of books about Germany.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060504/pl_nm/...a_sedition_dc_3

Janet Smith appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Frank Waara appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Leo Reno appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Herman Bausch appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

it's about time

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

HELENA, Montana (Reuters) - Before a packed crowd in the state Capitol, Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed pardons on Wednesday to clear the names posthumously of 78 Montanans convicted of sedition during World War One.

[...]

"Across this country it was a time in which we had lost our minds," the governor said. "So today in Montana, we will attempt to make it right. In Montana, we will say to an entire generation of people, we are sorry. And we challenge the rest of the country to do the same."

Montana passed the Sedition Act in 1918 amid an anti-German fervor, and it became the model for the Federal Sedition Act of 1918. The Montana Legislature created the Montana Council of Defense, which banned the use of the German language, even in church pulpits, and barred a number of books about Germany.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060504/pl_nm/...a_sedition_dc_3

Janet Smith appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Frank Waara appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Leo Reno appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Herman Bausch appears in this undated photo released by the Montana Historical Society.

Nice.

Seem to remember an posthumous apology was issued to traumatised soldiers who were shot for 'cowardice' during WW1, for refusing to go back into battle.

[almaty 19]

a little late i think

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Glad they finally came to their senses, and it's interesting that it was a group of law students who convinced the governor to issue the pardon.

But it also shows that ethnic/racial stereotyping and laws based on the same hurt people who have done nothing other than being recent immigrants. I think that in the light of the Patriot Act and the way many consider it necessary to protect the country, we can and should learn a lot from the past. There have been many similar attempts to weed out the perceived enemy (the Montana sedition law being an excellent example) and in almost all cases the victims were innocent.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Glad they finally came to their senses, and it's interesting that it was a group of law students who convinced the governor to issue the pardon.

But it also shows that ethnic/racial stereotyping and laws based on the same hurt people who have done nothing other than being recent immigrants. I think that in the light of the Patriot Act and the way many consider it necessary to protect the country, we can and should learn a lot from the past. There have been many similar attempts to weed out the perceived enemy (the Montana sedition law being an excellent example) and in almost all cases the victims were innocent.

Wasn't there a similar problem in the US during WW2 with the treatment of Japanese immigrants?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Glad they finally came to their senses, and it's interesting that it was a group of law students who convinced the governor to issue the pardon.

But it also shows that ethnic/racial stereotyping and laws based on the same hurt people who have done nothing other than being recent immigrants. I think that in the light of the Patriot Act and the way many consider it necessary to protect the country, we can and should learn a lot from the past. There have been many similar attempts to weed out the perceived enemy (the Montana sedition law being an excellent example) and in almost all cases the victims were innocent.

Wasn't there a similar problem in the US during WW2 with the treatment of Japanese immigrants?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_internment

And with the Japanese, many of them were not immigrants, but rather US-born Americans of Japanese descent.

And, FWIW, it happened with the Japanese in Canada too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Canadian_internment

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Glad they finally came to their senses, and it's interesting that it was a group of law students who convinced the governor to issue the pardon.

But it also shows that ethnic/racial stereotyping and laws based on the same hurt people who have done nothing other than being recent immigrants. I think that in the light of the Patriot Act and the way many consider it necessary to protect the country, we can and should learn a lot from the past. There have been many similar attempts to weed out the perceived enemy (the Montana sedition law being an excellent example) and in almost all cases the victims were innocent.

Wasn't there a similar problem in the US during WW2 with the treatment of Japanese immigrants?

Yup, similar problem and that despite the fact that it was Nazi Germany that was perceived as the primary enemy. German Americans didn't suffer as much of a backlash as Japanese Americans during WWII especially not when compared to WWI; on the other hand, the anti-German backlash during WWI taught German Americans that the best thing to do was to ignore their cultural roots and act like Anglo-Americans as much as possible, something much harder to accomplish if you're of Japanese descent.

[#@!!* 0]

If I remember my studies correctly, a number of German and Italian immigrants, along with their American born children, were interred during World War II as well. Not to nearly the same numbers as the Japanese and American born Japanese, but still it happened, and is, in my opinion, a huge violation of the civil rights of all of them.

Just as an aside my mother's side of the family, along with my mother, were all interred at a relocation center during World War II. Two of my uncles on her side of the family were in the military while the rest of the family was in camp. Not uncommon at the time. One was in the 442, the other in the CIC.