...as a society that thrives on openness, and as a society of laws, I believe in my deepest heart that we can't afford to throw around legal terms with wild abandon when we really mean something else.

If we mean "criminal" and "violent" and "disloyal", these are the words we should use.

"Treason" is a loaded word. It's a dangerous word, especially if it's used, even inadvertently, to shut dissent down and lock dissenters up. It's the ultimate Constitutional crime, with the ultimate penalty, and needs to be used only in the gravest of cases.

Law is about precision. The language of law must be used in a precise manner. If it's misused, it will lose much of its value and will be viewed with suspicion even when its use is exactly correct.

It will also lose much of its impact if used casually. Familiarity breeding contempt and all that jazz.

Regards--
Mary Anne