Civil wrongs

In a ruling that I find quite bizarre, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City ruled last week that governments can ban wearing masks as public gatherings.

The case arose from a suit by the Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which wanted to wear robes, hoods, and masks during a rally outside a state courthouse. AP for January 20 gives the result:

"While the First Amendment protects the rights of citizens to express their viewpoints, however unpopular, it does not guarantee ideal conditions for doing so," the appeals court wrote in the ruling released Tuesday.

The appeals court said the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous decisions had recognized a right to anonymous speech but "has never held that freedom of association or the right to engage in anonymous speech entails a right to conceal one's appearance in a public demonstration."

So you have a right to anonymous speech unless you're in public? What the hell does that mean?

I'm just waiting for one of two things: A Halloween parade getting busted or a suit for discriminatory enforcement when it isn't.

"We're surprised at the decision and we're reviewing it and contemplating our options," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Indeed.