Protester challenges Cincinnati mask ordinance
By The Associated Press
02.17.02
CINCINNATI — A city ordinance that generally bans the wearing of masks is unconstitutional because it prohibits people from peacefully protesting while concealing their identities, says a woman who is challenging her arrest.
Christinia Costello of Columbus wants U.S. District Judge Herman Weber to rule the ordinance unconstitutional and to forbid Cincinnati from enforcing it. Her lawsuit also asks for unspecified damages against the city.
Cincinnati's ordinance bans the public wearing of masks that conceal the wearer's identity, with exceptions for medical need or during holiday observances, sporting activities or entertainment events.
Police arrested Costello during an international trade meeting in November 2000. She had put on the mask to conceal her identity and to protect against the cold, said American Civil Liberties Union lawyers who filed the lawsuit for her.
Police used the mask ordinance to punish Costello when she refused to give authorities her name and Social Security number, her lawyers said. Costello said she had already taken off the mask when she was arrested as she tried to enter the public Fountain Square.
Police department spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd disputed Costello's account, saying it was not standard police procedure.
"She's going to put forward her version of the story that is most favorable to her," Byrd said. "It'll be up to a judge to determine what happened."
Cincinnati is preparing its response to the lawsuit, said Robert Johnstone, deputy city solicitor. The ordinance was never intended to interfere with people's rights to protest, but was designed to allow police to identify people for public safety reasons, Johnstone said.
The city originated the ordinance during the 1990s when Ku Klux Klan followers were annually obtaining permits to display wooden crosses at Christmastime on Fountain Square. Some of the Klan members attempted to conceal their identities.