[jgrahamc]

They are rather different cases.

Casement was tried and convicted of treason for trying, during World War I, to get Germany to support an uprising in Ireland against Great Britain. It's true that his alleged homosexuality didn't help his case.

[jacorreia]

Oh of course, there's little doubt he committed treason, but the fact that his homosexuality was used to ensure that a fair trial was impossible is what I was trying to get at.

Are there any other similar cases to Turing/Wilde/Casement that I don't know about?

[barking]

The treason part of it was pretty cut and tried. The blackening of his character was necessary for political reasons, not to ensure a guilty verdict.

[rmc]

Tens of thousands of people were convicted under the same law. But they weren't famous. Only little people.

[Sorgam]

Considering Ireland (except Northern Ireland) is now widely accepted to be independent of Britain, doesn't that mean any "treason" supporting that should also seen as acceptable, and Casement should be pardoned from his treason conviction? To maintain it, implies that Ireland really shouldn't be independent, and that anyone still supporting it is also guilty.

[philwelch]

It's only treason until you live long enough to see your side win.

[Sorgam]

It sounds silly, but that's how it really is. Treason is often a crime with the harshest punishments, yet also one that's most unclear if it's very bad or very good. Somehow it doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves as immoral law.