Reply #16: "The Alien and Sedition Acts [View All]

[Kermitt Gribble]

were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the United States Congress—who were waging an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War—and signed into law by President John Adams...

...One act — the Alien Enemies Act — is still in force in 2008, and has frequently been enforced in wartime. The others expired or were repealed by 1802. Thomas Jefferson held them all to be unconstitutional and void, then pardoned and ordered the release of all who had been convicted of violating them."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts