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Starting tonight, @NYGovCuomo& #39;s executive order requires nearly everyone in NY over 2 years old to wear masks in public when not social distancing. The executive order does not, however, suspend Penal Law § 240.35(4), a ridiculous statute that defines wearing a mask as loitering.
As of 8pm tonight, wearing a mask in public places around other people who are also wearing masks is both forbidden and required by New York law. I& #39;m sure the police will enforce these contradictory mandates in a completely rational & nondiscriminatory fashion.
The loitering provision about masks, like most loitering laws, is probably unconstitutional & should be repealed. It was struck down by a federal judge in 2002, but that decision was reversed by a 2004 Second Circuit panel including then-judge Sotomayor.
There has literally never been a better time to repeal these anti-mask laws. https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1251231193296666625?s=20">https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/st...
Although @mjs_DC is undoubtedly right that many anti-mask laws were passed to fight the KKK, New York& #39;s anti-mask law actually dates to 1845 when it was passed to suppress the "anti-rent movement" of upstate tenant farmers, according to @NewYorkHistory. https://newyorkalmanack.com/2013/10/halloween-history-new-yorks-anti-mask-law/">https://newyorkalmanack.com/2013/10/h...
NY& #39;s anti-mask law has been used against radicals ever since. In 2004, a state appeals court upheld the convictions of 11 anarchists who "covered their faces with bandanas while shouting epithets and political slogans during a May Day demonstration in Union Square Park."
Another source ("Dressing Constitutionally," a fascinating-looking book by @RobsonConLaw) notes that NY& #39;s 1845 anti-mask law "supplemented a previous law, An Act for the Prevention of Masquerades, passed in 1829." This law only applied in Manhattan & Brooklyn.
NYC required licenses for masquerade parties through at least the early 1970s. To get a license, applicants had to promise not to admit "males dressed in female attire." Legendary drag queen & activist Lee Brewster convinced DCA head Bess Myerson to drop the rule in 1970.
Needless to say, in addition to its history of being aimed at radicals & queer New Yorkers, the anti-mask law is mostly used to harass young men of color, as @petersterne points out. https://twitter.com/petersterne/status/1251245793530589186?s=20">https://twitter.com/peterster...
