Proposed bill would ban masks in public spaces

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

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]

1. "Unless its Religious Clothing on Halloween"???

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]

2. gosh, you could solve the problem more thoroughly by implanting chips in everyone's brain.

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]

3. Not sure what Washington's constitution says

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]

4. Maybe the language could be better, but I agree with this in substance.

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.

[Orrex]

5. Will cops' ski masks also be banned in public spaces?