I include this old video reenactment for two reasons. The first is to show the large amount of free material that is available without the modern cable system, and without ads. You can cut the cable.
The second reason is that it shows that our modern court system, and even the perception of that system, has changed. Aaron Burr could not be convicted of treason, but yet today no trial is needed. Individuals are sentenced to life imprisonment without trial at the sole discretion of the government.
Do you think I am exaggerating? Think about the ones held in Guantanamo in Cuba. They are right now on a hunger strike because they have no future, they have no recourse. They are doomed. Even US citizens can be put in this legal Twilight Zone. So says the Patriot Act. Anyone can be held indefinitely if the government decides they are traitors.
As the concluding comments of this video indicate, the year of this video was a time of incredible naïveté. I was also pretty naive in 1977.
"The door was closed forever on political abuse of the treason charge in America."
I suppose I still believe this at some level. I suppose. But then again, I am still very naïve.
If you decide to watch this, think about our current law and current politics.
To paraphrase Solomon, "Irony of ironies, all is irony."