Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 16:14:47 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Tonto sez . . . Who Was That Masked Man?
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Regarding the  anti-mask law,  note second paragraph.

"Jan. 23: A Manhattan Criminal Court ruled the city cannot prevent =
protesters from wearing masks or
covering their faces during lawful political demonstrations. The ruling =
came during the trial of 14 protesters who were arrested last year during =
a May Day demonstration in Union Square for violating an 1845 city law =
prohibiting the wearing of masks in public. The arrested had used bandanas =
to hide their identities, claiming they feared police surveillance. Their =
concerns were far from paranoid, as members of the Philadelphia Police =
Department had arrived in New York specifically to photograph anarchists =
who they expected to take part in disruptions of last summer's Republican =
convention.

 "The anti-mask law was enacted originally to prohibit wearing masks in =
order to prevent identification during lawless activity," Judge Gregory =
Carro wrote in his decision. "... [this] excludes from the statute's =
prohibition masks worn for communicative purposes and for anonymity as a =
necessary corollary for freedom of association, both protected by the =
First Amendment."

(From:http://nyc.indymedia.org/PrintTeam/NYCbriefs0301.html)

mjw