South Carolina now okay with overthrowing the government Good news if you're thinking of overthrowing the government in South Carolina - lawmakers in the state are trying to overturn a law that requires any group planning to overthrow the government to officially register its government-overthrowing activities.State Senator Larry Martin said on Monday the 1951 statute - originally meant to deter communists - is making South Carolina look bad, after bloggers and talk radio picked up on it last month. A misconception spread that the statute, on the books for nearly six decades, had only recently become law.Legislators said some constituents in the deeply conservative state were concerned it was aimed at conservative activists.'Nothing could be further from the truth,' said Martin. The law was enacted 'at a time they thought it was the best response to the communist scare. It's long outlived its usefulness, if ever it had one.'His bill to repeal it comes up for debate this week in a Senate panel. The 'subversive activities registration act' requires any group that advocates overthrowing local, state or federal governments to pay $5 and register the group's name, its leader's address, beliefs, all members living in South Carolina and check yes or no to the following: 'Do you or your organization directly or indirectly advocate, advise, teach or practice the duty or necessity of controlling, seizing or overthrowing the government?'Those that fail to file face up to a $25,000 fine and 10 years in prison. When enacted, it was seen as a way to prosecute someone who gets caught failing to file, instead of having to prove they were fomenting insurrection, Martin said.'I'm sure Osama bin Laden would be amused,' he added.
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