Attorneys for masked protesters urge judge to drop charges
By The Associated Press
10.19.00
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DETROIT — People had a constitutional right to wear Lone
Ranger-style masks during an environmental protest coinciding with a meeting of
the Organization of American States, civil liberties advocates say.
The American Civil Liberties Union and National Lawyers Guild asked a
state judge yesterday to dismiss charges against 13 people involved in a June
protest.
The protesters were charged under a Michigan law that prohibits the
wearing of masks for political purposes. The law exempts mask-wearing for
entertainment, educational, religious or historical purposes, the ACLU
said.
"The law is clearly unconstitutional because it infringes on the
rights of people to protest peacefully," ACLU of Michigan Executive Director
Kary Moss said in a news release.
A hearing on the motion is set for Wednesday before Detroit 36th
District Judge Paula Humphries.
"The First Amendment is not confined to verbal utterances," said ACLU
lawyer Ken Mogill. "Rather, the Supreme Court has confirmed again and again
that symbolic speech is equally protected. This extends to the right of
anonymity, if a citizen so chooses."
Michigan's law is similar to those in other states. Often, the laws
were passed to bar Ku Klux Klan members from parading with their faces
covered.
Last year, the ACLU unsuccessfully
sued to block enforcement of a
19th-century New York anti-mask law that authorities were using to curtail
a planned Klan rally.
"The reasons behind the statute are as valid today as they were when
the law was passed, and that is to create accountability for one's actions when
one is in a crowd," New York city attorney Daniel Connolly said at the
time.
The Detroit arrests occurred during a protest that coincided with an
OAS meeting across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario.
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