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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsProposed bill would ban masks in public spaces
new bill introduced in the state Senate Monday would ban masks on public streets, making it a misdemeanor.
Senate Bill 5941 claims that recent demonstrations with masked protesters have become a threat to public safety.
Under the guise of political speech, acts of vandalism and violence have occurred, which impact the health, safety, and welfare of citizens of the state, bill sponsor Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, wrote in the bill.
On May Day, about 75 masked protesters in Olympia turned violent, throwing rocks at police using slingshots. Fourteen people were arrested across Western Washington.
http://www.king5.com/news/politics/proposed-bill-would-ban-masks-in-public-spaces/442055994
yuiyoshida
(41,818 posts)Sorry kid, on Halloween you have to dress up as "Jesus" or Mary or maybe a Roman, but nothing else is allowed!
Sure Glad I live in California... so If I wanta dress up as a ghost or goblin, no one is going to beat my head in for not wearing "Religious clothing".
unblock
(52,113 posts)certainly sounds like a prior restraint, and i doubt the government could prove a compelling offsetting interest.
it's not as if non-masked people never become violent....
i think a better solution would be to up the penalty for violent acts if masked. i don't think there would be a constitutional issue with that.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But this wouldn't fly in Oregon, which has a very robust "freedom of expression" clause in the state constitution, which has been applied to everything from speech to allowing 18 year old to dance nude in establishments that serve alcohol where they ordinarily wouldn't be allowed in.
I probably wouldn't be quite so opposed, though, if the ban extended to law enforcement officers. But somehow I'll guess that Sen. Honeyford carved out an exception there.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Anyone that shows up to a political demonstration in the USA with a mask on either don't have strength of conviction or is out to start trouble. They should be stopped so that serious, peaceful protesters can freely drive home their message.