Has the U.S. ever used the death penalty for sedition charges and in which cases?
Executive summary
The United States has a constitutional statute that makes treason punishable by death (18 U.S.C. ch. 115) and military law can impose the death penalty for certain sedition-related offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; however, for civilians the federal seditious-conspiracy statute carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and does not prescribe death [1] [2] [3]. Contemporary reporting and fact-checking after November 2025 show confusion between treason, military sedition, and civilian seditious-conspiracy penalties: news outlets note that the UCMJ can include death for service members while civilian statutes do not [2] [4] [3].
1. The legal landscape: treason, sedition and separate penalty schemes
The U.S. criminal law framework separates treason, civilian sedition/seditious conspiracy, and military sedition. Treason — “levies war against” the United States or “adheres to their enemies” — explicitly carries death as a statutory option (or imprisonment and fines) [1]. By contrast, the civilian seditious-conspiracy statute routinely cited in modern cases does not include the death penalty; it authorizes fines and imprisonment and has been described by legal experts and local fact-checkers as limited to long prison terms (up to 20 years) rather than capital punishment [3] [1]. The Uniform Code of Military Justice, however, contains provisions for sedition and related offenses that can, in some cases, include death as a permissible sentence for service members [2] [4].
2. Historical use: what the sources say about actual executions for sedition
Available sources do not provide a catalog of civilian executions carried out specifically for sedition in U.S. history. The statutory text and reporting emphasize treason as the capital offense [1] and identify military law as the only modern statutory route that could produce a death sentence for sedition among troops [2]. Recent reporting and fact checks after November 2025 repeatedly state that civilian seditious-conspiracy statutes do not permit the death penalty, implying that modern civilian executions for sedition are not supported by those laws [3] [5].
3. Contemporary flashpoint: political claims and the media response
In November 2025, public claims by then–President Trump that Democrats’ statements were “punishable by DEATH” prompted widespread coverage and correction. Reuters and other outlets quoted legal experts and the statutory scheme to show that for civilians the seditious-conspiracy charge does not carry death, while noting the UCMJ’s different treatment of active-duty military [2]. PolitiFact and WMUR similarly reported that civilian conviction under the seditious-conspiracy law exposes a defendant to fines and up to 20 years in prison, not death [3] [4]. Wisconsin Watch explicitly stated that sedition “is not punishable by death” in civilian contexts being discussed [5].
4. Where death has remained a theoretical but limited option
The sources make clear that capital punishment remains a theoretical possible outcome for service members charged under the military code: reporting cites the UCMJ as permitting death in sedition cases for troops [2] [4]. That creates a sharp legal distinction that can be politically charged: public figures sometimes conflate civilian and military penalties, producing misstatements that outlets have corrected [2] [3].
5. Gaps in the public record and limitations of available reporting
The sources provided do not compile a historical list of cases in which the U.S. actually executed people specifically for “sedition” as a labeled civilian offense; they focus on statutory language (treason permitting death) and on modern media coverage of political claims [1] [2] [3]. Therefore, it is not possible from these documents to assert definitively whether and when civilian death sentences were imposed and carried out under older sedition statutes without consulting additional historical legal records — “not found in current reporting” in these sources [1].
6. Takeaway for readers: law, history and political rhetoric
The plain legal takeaway in contemporary reporting is straightforward: treason can carry the death penalty under federal law; the Uniform Code of Military Justice can expose service members to death for sedition-related offenses; the civilian seditious-conspiracy statute cited in recent political disputes does not include death as a punishment and limits penalties to fines and imprisonment up to 20 years [1] [2] [3]. Media corrections and fact-checks after November 2025 show that public officials sometimes blur these distinctions for political effect; outlets from Reuters to PolitiFact and Wisconsin Watch explicitly called out that conflation [2] [3] [5].
If you want, I can search beyond these sources for a historical list of prosecutions and any executions labeled “sedition” in U.S. history (not limited to the contemporary statutory framing).