During public comment, speaker Simone Hetherington urged lawmakers not to pass the mask bill. [+] Hetherington told lawmakers during a State Senate Rules Committee meeting Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, that he is immunocompromised and that the bill would require people to wear masks in public. He said he was concerned about how it would affect his ability to wear a suit. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)
Associated Press
The North Carolina Senate voted this week along party lines to ban the wearing of masks in public.
Seventy years ago, some states passed anti-mask laws in response to the Ku Klux Klan. Ku Klux Klan members often wore robes or hoods to conceal their identities.
North Carolina's bill would repeal an exception to the former mask ban, which was enacted during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and allowed people to wear masks in public for “health and safety reasons.” It is.
Republicans supporting the ban said it would help law enforcement “crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters who wear masks,” according to The Hill. They accused the protesters of “abusing pandemic-era practices to hide their true identity.”
To strengthen deterrence, the proposed law would provide that if a masked protester is arrested, authorities would raise the classification to a misdemeanor or felony by one level.
North Carolina Democrats have expressed concerns about the bill, especially for people with weakened immune systems or those who want to continue wearing masks during cancer treatment. Others agree, including former Trump administration Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Posted “It's disturbing to think that immunocompromised patients and cancer patients could be criminalized for following medical advice meant to protect their health,” he tweeted.
In addition, some people may have legitimate health reasons to wear a medical mask, such as people with asthma, people exposed to wildfires or smoke, and people who want to protect themselves, their families, and others from pathogens such as the coronavirus and influenza. Masu.
In fact, for decades, people across Asia have been wearing masks for a variety of reasons, as USA Today explained at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. Japanese people often wear masks to reduce infection when they are sick. Motorcycle riders in the Philippines wear face coverings to protect themselves from exhaust fumes when in heavy traffic. Similarly, Taiwanese citizens use masks to protect themselves from air pollution and airborne germs.
The proposed ban includes exceptions such as Halloween and certain types of jobs that require face coverings. As reported by WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, there is an exception that would specifically allow “members of secret societies and secret organizations to wear masks and hoods at parades and demonstrations, with permission.”
After reading this, Democratic state senator Sidney Batch of North Carolina said, “Okay, so this bill would protect the Ku Klux Klan from wearing masks in public, but it would protect people like me who don't have a strong immune system.'' “Can't degraded people wear masks?” he asked.
It's worth noting that groups like the KKK would be able to wear face coverings under the proposed law if they applied for a demonstration and received a permit. And this is not a theoretical point. The KKK has a history of holding rallies in North Carolina, like the one they held in 2019. The question is: Will pro-Palestinian demonstrators now receive similar permits and be allowed to wear masks or other face coverings? Probably not.
The American Civil Liberties Union says the law is being used to specifically target people who cover their faces when protesting the war in Gaza, and in the ACLU's view, it amounts to “selective prosecution of an adverse movement.” It is claimed to be equivalent to
Other legal aspects may also be invoked in connection with the constitutionality of such a prohibition.
Amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, many jurisdictions have mandated the wearing of masks in public places and federal buildings and grounds, sparking public outcry over freedom of choice. Do you remember when you caused this? Judges have overturned certain mask mandates at both the federal and state levels on constitutional grounds. Similarly, one could argue, in a role reversal of sorts, that banning masks prevents people from exercising their freedom of choice to protect themselves. It stands to reason that North Carolina's ban, if it goes into effect, could spark a constitutional debate.
In the meantime, the bill will now be sent to the House for its next vote. From there, it could head to Gov. Roy Cooper's desk. He is a Democrat and will likely veto the bill. But North Carolina Republicans have a supermajority and can override a potential veto.
