President Adams never enforced the Alien Act, but there were fourteen prosecutions under the Sedition Act.
James Madison by Richard Brookhiser
A few prosecuted under the act:
Matthew Lyon: A Republican congressman from Vermont convicted for writing in a newspaper he edited that John Adams “grasp[ed] for power” and was a “ridiculous pomp”. He was fined $1,000 and spent four months in jail.
James Callender: Arrested for calling Adams a “hideous hermaphroditical character”. He was fined $200 and was sentenced nine months in jail.
Benjamin Franklin Bache: Editor of the Aurora Republican newspaper. Escaped prison by dying of yellow fever while awaiting trial.
William Duane: An Irish immigrant who avoided prosecutions by threatening to expose administration secrets. He also went underground.
Chalres Holt: Editor of a New London, Connecticut, newspaper
Thomas Cooper: A British radical who edited a small Pennsylvania newspaper
