At lunch recently, my co-workers and I were talking about South Carolina and the politics of the state – what a mess! One of them mentioned that the state refused to impeach Governor Mark Sanford because to do so would mean that Lt. Governor Andre Bauer would take over. As many problems as Sanford has, Bauer is apparently even less desirable to many South Carolinians.
So I guess it didn’t surprise me when I saw an article later than same day about the South Carolina Subversive Activities Act. This legislation has been around in some form or another since 1951. (The era in which it became law may provide some clue to its origin.)
I do so enjoy the definition of a “subversive” organization in that statute!
“Subversive organization” means every corporation, society, association, camp, group, bund, political party, assembly, body or organization, composed of two or more persons, which directly or indirectly advocates, advises, teaches or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, of this State or of any political subdivision thereof by force or violence or other unlawful means;
While it may be comforting to know that this specifically does not include “any labor union or religious, fraternal or patriotic organization, society or association, or their members, whose objectives and aims do not contemplate the overthrow of the government,” the whole idea does take me back to the 60’s and the House Un-American Activities Committee. If I were a little older it might even take me back to the early 50s and Joe McCarthy. It certainly brings back memories of being called a “radical, long-haired hippie” by a small town newspaper – and this at a time that I sported a crew cut in defiance of the norm.
And while the statute does make it clear that it may not “be construed to authorize, require or establish censorship or to limit in any way or infringe upon freedom of the press or of speech…,” it is hard to see how a prohibition against advocating, advising or teaching something wouldn’t do just that.
Most enjoyable was checking out the form that South Carolina wants people to fill out if they are subversive agents. It would almost be worth five bucks to see what happens if you fill it out and send it in…
Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
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