SC law prohibits obscene and indecent bumper stickers. Here’s what’s banned, fines

The Palmetto State is one of only a handful of states with a ban on obscene bumper stickers.

According to South Carolina state law, it’s illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a “sticker, decal, emblem or other device containing obscene or indecent words, photographs or depictions,” visible to people outside the vehicle.

While topics like obscenity and indecency are open to some interpretation, the South Carolina Code of Laws lays out some guidelines. The law considers bumper stickers describing sexual acts, excretory functions or human body parts, “in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards,” indecent.

But there is a caveat: to be considered obscene, the sticker also must lack serious political, artistic, political or scientific value. Because of this, an explicit bumper sticker may not be deemed illegally indecent if it’s a parody, protest or critique.

Historically, laws targeting indecent bumper stickers have proven difficult to prosecute. According to Middle Tennessee University’s Free Speech Center, several courts in other states have invalidated convictions on obscene bumper stickers because they violated the First Amendment.

Although the American Civil Liberties Union raised freedom of speech concerns in 1989 when the South Carolina bumper sticker law was first introduced, the law has been in place for decades.

Violating the bumper sticker law is considered a misdemeanor in South Carolina and is punishable with a fine up to $200.