Alvin Greene is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate for South Carolina.

He has also been charged with a felony for violating obscenity laws. Greene could face five years in prison.

He must have done something very bad, right? Perhaps it was distributing child porn or showing porn to minors. Maybe he took nude photos of himself or others and emailed or transferred them to masses of unsuspecting people via a cell phone. That might even be too much for a five year prison sentence, but it is South Carolina after all.

However, Greene did not do any of this.

Last November 4, with an old copy of his campus ID card, Greene sat down next to Camille McCoy at a computer lab at the University of South Carolina and engaged in some chit chat. He made some verbal advances towards McCoy which she rejected. Greene then asked McCoy, who was 18 at the time, to look at his computer screen which, unbeknown to her, had pornography.

McCoy said, “That’s offensive.”

She is right. It is offensive and crude.

Greene sat there laughing and asked, “Let’s go to your room now.”

Clearly, Greene is an immature jerk. He lacks the social skills to even get a date, perhaps he has never been on one. Yet as uncouth as his behavior, Greene was probably only trying to get a few laughs after his rejection.

Most people would not see that as a crime, much less one warranting a lockup for five years.

After Greene’s proposition, McCoy immediately got up and left.

She reported the incident to the campus police and her parents. Her parents demanded that the police press charges. McCoy was arrested a few days later.

In South Carolina, “it is unlawful for any person knowingly to disseminate obscenity.” Greene is being charged with a felony under South Carolina code 16-15-0305, (A) (3).

If this is unlawful, half of the males in America are in trouble.

I might be able to understand this charge if it was misdemeanor and used against individuals who create a habitual public nuisance, but we are talking felony, five years and a ten thousand dollar fine.

In South Carolina, the misdemeanors are reserved for indecent exposure, prostitution, pimping, seduction under promise of marriage, bigamy, incest and adultery.

Yes, adultery remains illegal and punishable by “not less than six months nor more than one year” imprisonment. Incest is defined by having relations with one’s in-laws, but not one’s first cousins. It is perfectly legal in that case. Just make sure no one photographs the act, then it becomes an obscenity and a felony.

Greene would have been charged with a lesser crime if he had coerced McCoy into prostitution or dropped his pants instead of just showing her a naughty picture on the internet. As disturbing as all this is, there is one thing hardly anyone is talking about.

This is South Carolina and one of the most obvious factors in this incident has to be discussed. That is race.

Greene is black and McCoy is white.

Perhaps McCoy would have reacted the same if Greene had been white, but I am not so sure.

“It was very disgusting…It was kind of scary. He’s a pretty big boy. He could’ve overpowered me,” McCoy said.

He is also black. If he was white would he have been as “scary,” “big” and overpowering? From all accounts, and even the arrest warrant, Greene was never threatening. McCoy even mentioned that he was laughing.

Apparently, in South Carolina disgusting is a crime.

McCoy said that she wants the rest of South Carolina to know about what went on because “Who knows what he wants to do?”

He might show some more internet porn to unsuspecting women. In that case, the state thinks it is better to lock him up for five years. Fortunately, Greene has been placed into an intervention program for first-time offenders.

Greene’s immaturity should eliminate any consideration of voting for him to the Senate. Senator Larry Craig showed his poor judgment when he was caught tap-dancing in a men’s bathroom; John Edwards flawed thinking came out when his affair and love-child became public. Greene is of the same mind as these and other failed politicians.

Nevertheless, to enforce laws that make a dirty picture a far more serious offense than actually committing an indecent act or hurting someone is completely ludicrous. Just about as ludicrous as threatening a black man with five years in prison for obscenely propositioning a white woman.