In the United States, criminal anarchy is the crime of conspiracy to overthrow the government by force or violence, or by assassination of the executive head or of any of the executive officials of government, or by any unlawful means.
The advocacy of such doctrine either by word of mouth or writing is a felony in many U.S. states.
§ 2385, which makes it an offense punishable by 20 years' imprisonment to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government.
In 1925, criminal anarchy statutes were ruled constitutional in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925).
However, in 1969, the subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) overturned nearly all criminalization of political speech, including advocacy of the violent overthrow of the government, unless such speech "is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.