Did the Supreme Court find the Union guilty of 'constitutional treason' in 1867?
By Christiana Dillard
Copy link
Copy featured image
NO
A recent social media post falsely claims that no Confederate leader was tried for treason in the 1800s because it was the Union that was guilty of treason, declared so by the U.S. Supreme Court.
No such Supreme Court decision exists, said Deborah Pearlstein, a professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University:
"Treason is an offense that can be charged by the government against an individual or individuals. As a matter of law, it makes no sense to imagine a government of any kind guilty of 'treason.'"
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.