Oklahoma to ban hoodies in public?

a reply to: phoenix9884

The Oklahoma “Hoodie Ban” Law Is Not What You Think It Is

Living in Oklahoma, (and having most of my friends on Facebook from my time at a veeeeery liberal arts school, I'm sick of hearing this ignorant, shallow, click-bait-headline meme repeated without any actual knowledge of the proposed amendment.

Key points from source. Bold/italic emphasis added by me.

Several news outlets published articles in the last few days with a similar headline on a proposed amendment to an Oklahoma law. Just one problem, though. The existing law already potentially punishes hoodie-wearers with up to a $500 fine.

Time, ThinkProgress, Huffington Post, Fusion and Uproxx all aggregated their information from the same local sources: Channel 4 and Channel 6. Both of these local news articles are highly speculative and neglect to clearly lay out the facts. Wearing hoodies while committing a crime has been illegal in Oklahoma since the 1920s.

The original law, established in 1923, says it is unlawful for any person in Oklahoma “to wear a mask, hood or covering, which conceals the identity of the wearer during the commission of a crime or for the purpose of coercion, intimidation or harassment.” It was intended as a deterrent against the then-ascendent Ku Klux Klan.

The revision proposed in December would add a provision making it illegal for anyone “to intentionally conceal his or her identity in a public place by means of a robe, mask, or other disguise.” The amendment just adds the “intentional” aspect.

While KFOR argues that the proposed amendment is racist against “hoodie users,” what it fails to emphasize with equal footing is that it was already illegal for people committing crimes to wear hoodies. The new amendment adds that it is illegal for someone to “intentionally conceal” his or her identity in public while wearing a hoodie.

The amendment does add fuel to the fire if a racist cop wants to arrest a man for wearing a hoodie, but it does not make it automatically illegal and punishable with a fine of up to $500 to wear a hoodie, as so many news outlets suggest. Moreover, it may be legally impossible to convict someone wearing a hoodie under the current law, as “intent” is a very tricky word.

The amendment excludes people wearing the mask, hood or covering because of weather, religious beliefs, parades or Halloween celebrations.

One group, however, could find themselves in some rather deep water with the repurposed law: protesters. As we’ve seen in recent demonstrations from Occupy Wall Street to the nationwide response to the Michael Brown and Eric Garner killings, protesters are covering their faces more so than ever before—members of Anonymous in particular. Under this extension of the existing law, such demonstrators would be committing a crime simply by showing up. While the original law targeted a different kind of political activist—KKK members—its new iteration could put more progressive demonstrators in the crosshairs.

Admittedly, the phrase "racist against 'hoodie users'" as found above does boggle my mind.

Deny Ignorance, indeed.

According to a retired cop I know who is also up-to-date on national news, this basically means that if you walk into a public space, (i.e. a store), with your hood up over your head, you will be asked to leave...however, if it's cold and you are wearing your hood to the door and take it off, that's okay. Personally, I don't agree with the whole legislation trying to get hoodies banned just because they have hoods. Guess you can't have your cake and eat it too lol

a reply to: phoenix9884 I wonder how this lawmaker is going to control the garment manufactures that sell these clothes. Are there going to be hoodie police at the border to enforce no hoodies allowed in Oklahoma. I can just see the legislator going to a manufacture of winter clothing and telling them they can not make hoodies and sell them in Oklahoma. This politician is a joke.

a reply to: phoenix9884

YOU LIVE IN A HOODIE

YOU ADMITTED THAT ON ATS ?

(googling FBI and local police emails)

a reply to: deadeyedick

The cops will just smile and say i am just doing my job. My hands are tied. At some point i think they should have some personal morals and say i refuse to uphold certain laws. There seems like there has to be some point where they reject what they are being told to do for money in the name of justice and peace.

Well, that makes ONCE that I agree with you, dick!

As for wearing hoodies - I'm a year-round wearer. Summer, winter - MOST of my tops are hoodies.

a reply to: neo96

that doesn't stop them from violating our 4th amendment rights, and banning guns.

Really?
When did 'they' ban guns, can you tell me again?

Didn't think so.
Stop with the sensationalism for a change.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

LOL

I remember seeing a commercial, for an automobile I think. Anyway, these three guys just get off the ski slopes and are still wearing their ski masks as they hop in their car. They stop at a convenience store and one guy hops out to get snacks and sodas for him and other guys. He forgets he's wearing a mask and all the customers hide behind counters and such and when he goes to pay the clerk says "Just take it".

He gets in the car happy about the free food, and tells his buddies about how the clerk refused to take his money. "Yeah, you probably should have taken off the mask!" They tell him. End commercial - Enter "My Cousin Vinny"!

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Wearing hoodies while committing a crime has been illegal in Oklahoma since the 1920s.

The original law, established in 1923, says it is unlawful for any person in Oklahoma “to wear a mask, hood or covering, which conceals the identity of the wearer during the commission of a crime or for the purpose of coercion, intimidation or harassment.”

LOL!!! I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. It's unlawful for people committing crimes to wear a hood? Read that law again:

it is unlawful (illegal) for people in Oklahoma to wear a mask, hood or covering........during the commission of a crime...

Um....
hmmmmm. That's all I have to say about that.

I'm pretty certain if im wielding a gun about to rob something or someone i probably have zero eff's to give about your hoodie law.

I think they've finally ran out of legitimate laws to make. Everything is illegal that should be. Now they're just grasping at straws.