Anti Mask Laws

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Decisions holding antimask laws unconstitutional include: American Knights of Ku Klux Klan v. City of Goshen, 50 F. Supp. 2d 835, 840 (N.D. Ind. 1999) (holding that a city ordinance prohibiting mask-wearing for the purpose of concealing identity in public violated First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and anonymity); Aryan v. Mackey, 462 F. Supp. 90, 91 (N.D. Tex. 1978) (granting temporary restraining order preventing enforcement of antimask law against Iranian students demonstrating against the Shah); Ghafari v. Municipal Court, 150 Cal. Rptr. 813, 819 (Cal. Ct. App. 1978) (holding that a statute prohibiting wearing masks in public was overbroad and finding the state's fear that violence would result from the mere presence of anonymous persons is "unfounded"). Cases upholding antimask laws include: Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Safir, No. 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 28106 (2d Cir. Oct. 22, 1999) (staying order of injunction against an 1845 New York state law forbidding masks at public demonstrations); Ryan v. County of DuPage, 45 F.3d 1090, 1092 (7th Cir. 1995) (upholding a rule prohibiting masks in the courthouse against a First Amendment challenge on grounds that the rule was reasonable because "[t]he wearing of a mask inside a courthouse implies intimidation"); Hernandez v. Superintendent, FredericksburgRappahannock Joint Security Center, 800 F. Supp. 1344, 1351 n.14 (E.D. Va. 1992) (noting that a statute might have been held unconstitutional if petitioner had demonstrated that unmasking himself would have restricted his ability to enjoy free speech and freedom of association); Schumann v. State, 270 F. Supp. 730, 731-34 (S.D.N.Y. 1967) (denying temporary injunction of enforcement of a statute requiring licensing of assemblage of masked persons); State v. Miller, 398 S.E.2d 547 (Ga. 1990) (rejecting challenge to antimask statute); State v. Gates, 576 P.2d 1357, 1359 (Ariz. 1978) (rejecting a challenge to an antimask provision in an indecent exposure statute); Walpole, 68 Tenn. at 372-73 (enforcing statute); Hernandez v. Commonwealth, 406 S.E.2d 398, 401 (Va. Ct. App. 1991). Compare Allen, supra note 298, at 829-30 (arguing for the validity and retention of antimask laws), with Rey, supra note 298, at 1145-46 (arguing that antimask laws are unconstitutional).