United States v. Rahman
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
189 F.3d 88 (1999)
Abdel Rahman and nine others (defendants) were convicted of seditious conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 2384 in connection with plots related to the World Trade Center bombing and plans to bomb other sites and murder Egypt's president. At trial, the government introduced Rahman's religious speeches calling for jihad against the U.S. and Egypt and directing specific followers to carry out bombings and murder. The defendants challenged their convictions as violating the Treason Clause, the First Amendment's speech and religion protections, and as unconstitutionally overbroad and vague.
Whether a congressional statute that criminalizes seditious conspiracy violates the Treason Clause or the First Amendment.