Klan's old Kentucky haunts ban hoods in public
By The Associated Press
07.31.01
Printer-friendly page
MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. — In the 1970s, when Bullitt County was still a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity, Chester Porter's attempts to prosecute Klansmen were met with threats and a cross-burning outside his home.
"It was a time to be cautious and be aware of your surroundings," said the former county attorney.
A generation later, Porter said he knows of no Klan activity in the county. And Porter, who is white, has mixed feelings about the legal tactic that officials are now using to keep it that way: local ordinances that forbid demonstrators from wearing masks or hoods.
Porter said government should not set up obstacles for groups wanting to peacefully express their views, no matter how extreme.
Besides, he said, "as a kid growing up, I learned early on that it's not good to be spanking copperheads. It's better to be staying away from them. If they are silent, you be silent. That's my philosophy."
He is not the only one troubled. The American Civil Liberties Union says the laws, while well-intended, may infringe on the Klan's free-speech rights.
The city council in Shepherdsville, a focal point of Klan activity in the 1970s, recently approved such an ordinance. The Mount Washington City Council voted 6-0 to approve a similar ordinance last week, Councilman Barry Armstrong told freedomforum.org.
In all, nearly 30 Kentucky cities or counties have such ordinances, some dating to the 1920s, according to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.
"You can't stop them from marching, but you might be able to stop them if they have to uncover their faces," said Armstrong, a white banker and councilman who suggested his town's ordinance, which would carry a $100 fine, or up to 50 days in jail, or both. The ordinance would prohibit groups of three or more people from wearing masks and hoods within city limits.
No one has been prosecuted under any of the recent ordinances.
Armstrong said his proposal has been warmly received in a town not exactly known for racial diversity. Out of a population of 8,485, only 41 residents identified themselves in the latest census as black or part black.
From his auto repair shop about a block from City Hall, Jimmy Breeden, who is white, said he likes the ordinance. People have a right to protest, he said, but hiding behind a hood or mask is "a show of cowardice."
But Jeff Vessels, director of the ACLU of Kentucky, said: "What is at stake here is a very important First Amendment principle of free speech, and it protects that speech regardless of how offensive people might find that speech."
Vessels says the ACLU is keeping track of the recent anti-mask ordinances but has not been contacted by anyone wanting to challenge them.
Such laws have been vulnerable. Louisville's ordinance was struck down by a federal judge in response to an ACLU lawsuit filed before a Klan rally in 1996. An anti-mask ordinance enacted in Goshen, Ind., in 1998 met a similar fate in federal court after
being challenged by the KKK.
However, more than a decade ago, a Klansman arrested in Georgia for wearing his hood in public lost a bid to overturn the law in the state Supreme Court. The justices said the 1951 law did not violate free-speech rights and was a legitimate attempt to prevent violence and intimidation.
Jeffery Berry of Butler, Ind., national imperial wizard for the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said anti-mask laws are an infringement on Klansmen's constitutional right to assemble. He said the hoods are not meant to intimidate.
"That's part of our religious attire," he said. "It's for two reasons: One is a religious aspect, and the other is to conceal one's identity for safety." Berry said Klansmen fear repercussions at work and in their communities if they march without hoods.
Bullitt County has long had a reputation as Kentucky's Klan capital. But Porter said that even at its height in the 1970s, the Klan probably attracted no more than 20 members and a few dozen sympathizers who were from the county. The rest of the marchers who filled the streets, he said, came from out of town.
Last April, in neighboring Hardin County, the Elizabethtown City Council hurriedly passed an anti-mask ordinance days before the Klan rallied on the courthouse steps.
"We didn't need that kind of element circulating in the community without the knowledge of who they are," said Mayor David Willmoth Jr.
The ordinance prohibited groups of three or more from wearing hoods or masks covering a "substantial portion" of their faces.
Some participants ended up wearing hoods that did not cover their faces, while others wore sunglasses.
Related
Indiana judge denies KKK request on assembly permit
Gary Mayor Scott King says Klan is trying to use his city for publicity.
02.02.01
Protester challenges Cincinnati mask ordinance
Federal lawsuit claims city statute is unconstitutional because it prohibits people from peacefully protesting while concealing their identities.
02.17.02
Federal judge strikes down Indiana town's ban on masks
Goshen city ordinance violates Ku Klux Klan members' rights to express themselves and associate anonymously, court rules.
05.11.99
Federal judge strikes down N.Y. ban on masks at public gatherings
Klansmen can hide their faces 'even in time of war, including the war on terrorism,' says U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr.
11.20.02
Attorneys for masked protesters urge judge to drop charges
ACLU, National Lawyers Guild contend Michigan law prohibiting the wearing of masks for political purposes violates the First Amendment.
10.19.00
Maryland lawmaker wants to unmask Klan members
Critics praise state senator's intentions but say bill restricting wearing of hoods, masks infringes on free speech.
02.25.00
Klan members rally — without masks — in NYC
Supreme Court justice denies last-minute appeal by group to demonstrate in disguise.
10.25.99
Philadelphia City Council takes step toward banning 'threatening' masks
Protesters say proposed ordinance is intended to give police wide discretion in making arrests during this summer's Republican National Convention.
06.13.00
