Bill would require South Carolina journalists to register

In the “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry”, Reporters have to undergo a criminal background check, a media outlet vouching for his or her “journalistic competence” and pay up.

The bill, titled “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law”, was introduced by Republican Rep. Mike Pitts.

The bill also states that, should any journalist fail to register with the Secretary of State’s Office, penalties be issued to the journalist up to and including jail time and fines of up to $500.00.

“It strikes me as ironic that the first question is constitutionality from a press that has no problem demonizing firearms”, Pitts said. “With this statement I’m talking primarily about printed press and TV”. He added that the bill is at least partially in response to the press “demonizing guns and gun ownership”. On Twitter, the Post and Courier’s Andrew Knapp suggested it would be a constitutional breach.

At the heart of Pitts’ bill is the need to control what journalists report about government affairs – a relationship explicitly protected by the First Amendment to prevent the sort of “big brother” permission-granting Pitts’ bill would legislate.

The bill has been referred to a committee for debate. Pitts remained optimistic about his bill, saying, “Let’s be realistic; this is an election year”. “It is well into the second year and the Senate is not going to do anything this year and certainly not going to do anything controversial”.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler tried Thursday to get the proposals heard without hearings, but Democrats blocked him, saying they wanted to hear testimony about refugees in the state.

Pitts, a former law enforcement officer, opposed an ultimately successful push last summer to remove the Confederate Flag from South Carolina’s Statehouse grounds following the murders of nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

“This bill is obviously so unconstitutional that I do not think it will go anywhere, but if it does we are prepared to fight it tooth and nail”, Bill Rogers, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Press Association told Sputnik News.