The Espiange Act of 1917 had nothing to do with spying

[cindy25]

it was as much about espionage as the patriot had to do with patriotism; it was to limit anti-war speech, anti-draft efforts.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917

[MN Patriot]

From your link:


In the 1990s, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan deplored the "culture of secrecy" made possible by the Act, noting the tendency of bureaucracies to enlarge their powers by increasing the scope of what is held "secret". A defense attorney in the 1983-85 case of Alfred Zehe claimed his client was prosecuted as part of "the perpetuation of the 'national-security state' by over-classifying documents that there is no reason to keep secret, other than devotion to the cult of secrecy for its own sake."

[dean.engelhardt]

Presidential candidate Eugene Debs received a ten-year prison sentence in 1918 under the Espionage Act for daring to read the First Amendment in public. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/post_1394_b_795001.html)

Interesting history of the act and Woodrow Wilson. Good read for Huffpost

[pcosmar]

More damage from the Fabian Socialist Coup.
The act was directly aimed at Anti-War protesters. After Wilson had campaigned and promised to keep us out of the war, he reversed against the will of most of America.

The Wilson era was the end of the US as a free country. It has been going down hill since.

:(

[Matt Collins]

Tom Woods and Kevin Gutzman discuss this in the first chapter of their book, Who Killed The Constitution. It's an excellent read, everyone should take a look.