Cramer v. United States, 325 U.S. 1 (1945)

1. Accord: William Gregg, 14 How.St.Tr. 1371; Trial of Dr. Hensey, 19 How.St.Tr. 1341. Both of these involved indictments for compassing and adhering, the overt acts being letters of intelligence intercepted before they reached the enemy.

2. In a letter of April 24, 1792, Jefferson, then Secretary of State, wrote:

Treason, . . . when real, merits the highest punishment. But most codes extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one’s country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government and acts against the oppressions of the government; the latter are virtues, yet they have furnished more victims to the executioner than the former, because real treasons are rare, oppressions frequent. The unsuccessful strugglers against tyranny have been the chief martyrs of treason law in all countries.

See 8 Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Library ed. Wash.1903) p. 332.