Also known as: high treason
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The offense consisting only of levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies by giving them aid and comfort. Conviction requires the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or a confession in open court.
Tori Taylor faces federal charges of levying war against the United States after organizing an armed uprising at a federal facility. She flees across state lines. The governor of the state where she is found must deliver her for trial in the federal district with jurisdiction over the crime under the constitutional extradition clause.
President Tiana Tan directs federal agents to assist foreign operatives in sabotaging domestic infrastructure. The House impeaches her for treason. The Senate conducts a trial and convicts her of the offense, resulting in removal from office.
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Talia Torres is indicted for treason after providing coded intelligence to an enemy nation during wartime. She challenges the death penalty on equal protection grounds, citing racial disparities in capital sentencing outcomes across similar cases.
Tyrone Tran, a federal officer, is accused of treason for aiding an enemy during hostilities. Congress attempts a legislative veto to block his removal proceedings, but the court holds that such action violates separation of powers principles.
Taliah Tang is convicted of treason for levying war against the United States. The state seeks the death penalty under its capital statute that includes treason among eligible offenses, and the court upholds the sentence after reviewing procedural safeguards.
Theodore Tucker leads an insurrection against federal authority and is convicted of treason in federal court. He seeks review claiming the underlying political dispute renders the case nonjusticiable, but the court rejects the argument.
The government must prove that the defendant levied war against the United States or adhered to its enemies by giving them aid and comfort. It must also establish the overt act through the testimony of two witnesses or a confession in open court.
Yes. The Constitution provides that the President shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Yes. No person may be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court.
A person charged with treason in one state who flees to another state must be delivered up on demand of the executive authority of the state from which the person fled.
…merely because some private sexual practice which they abominate is not punished by the law." H. L. A. Hart, Immorality and Treason, reprinted in The Law as Literature 220, 225 (L. Blom-Cooper ed. 1961). Petitioner and the Court fail to see the difference between laws that protect public sensibilities and those that…