New Bill Would Make Wearing Hoodies A Crime

[SummerSnow]

BY EMILY ATKIN

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/01/03/3607687/oklahoma-hoodie-ban/

Oklahoma lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill this February that would make it illegal to wear hooded sweatshirts, or “hoodies,” in public, according to a report from Oklahoma’s Channel 6 News.

Republican Senator Don Barrington will introduce the bill, which would make it a misdemeanor to “wear a mask, hood, or covering” either while committing a crime or in order to intentionally conceal one’s identity. If the bill is passed, offenders would be subject to a fine of $50 to $500, and up to one year in jail. The ban would not affect mask-wearers on Halloween or at masquerade parties, nor would it apply to people who wear head coverings for religious purposes.

The bill’s purpose is seemingly to deter crime. As Channel 6’s report notes, robberies caught on surveillance camera often show the perpetrator wearing a mask or hoodie to cover his or her face. With the bill’s language only prohibiting wearing hoodies while committing a crime or to intentionally hide, supporters say the ban wouldn’t negatively affect people just trying to wear a sweatshirt in day-to-day life.

Others, however, have argued that bans on hoodies — no matter the intention — only serve to exacerbate problems with racial profiling. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin took on the issue when an Indiana mall banned the garment in March:

“This is about the pretext of being able to stop young African-American males,” she said. “Hoodie is code for ‘thug’ in many places and I think businesses shouldn’t be in the business of telling people what to wear. The Fourteenth Amendment protects us from this.”

read more at above link


These hoodies?

[Bluzmann57]

1. I'm a middle aged white guy

And I wear hoodies. Because it gets cold here and hoodies are warm. I suppose I should not do any business in Oklahoma if this bill actually passes.

[Aerows]

4. Who doesn't wear them?

They are warm, and if it is cold, it is convenient to conserve body heat by already having something to cover your head.

[belzabubba333]

5. only if your hoodie is used either while committing a crime or in order to intentionally conceal

one’s identity.

[Iggo]

14. Conceal one's identity from whom?

EDIT: Okay, I think I see. To intentionally conceal one's identity from security cameras?

[belzabubba333]

20. yup ... nt

[Aerows]

18. That's what it states on it's face

But the law can be bent, warped and contorted without being "broken".

That is why you must be extremely careful about what you set in the color of "law". If there are too many laws, there are too many lawbreakers.

[Feral Child]

19. Hate cliches, but "slippery slope".

Couch it as they will, it's a "profiling" law that will only be applied to PoC.

It will be used as an excuse to stop ceratin people in order to ensure they aren't "committing crime whilst hooded".

1st Amendment rights to express oneself through fashion, if naught else.

[belzabubba333]

23. leos can stop anyone anytime they dont need a hoodie law

[Feral Child]

34. Quit making excuses to sanctify this law.

Yes, cops can do a lot of things, but to avoid prosecution when violating a person's civil rights, they have to be able to articulate a "justification". They can't testify in court that they stopped a citizen because they wanted to, or because they don't like black people.

Wearing a hooded sweatshirt or jacket will become that excuse, lending "weight" to a (black) person's "suspicious" character.

It's done so already, without that law.

Racist loved mentioning Trayvon Martin's hoodie and attributing it to his thuggishness, for example.


You know, you think you're being perceived as judicious and fair-minded in these posts. You fail to realize that what you're saying actually describes your personal attitudes and conviction. You're exposing yourself, and it isn't anything anybody wants to look at.

Quit trying to be clever, 'bubba. You're not converting anyone.

[gollygee]

32. It's the "or in order to intentionally conceal one's identity" part that is the problem

It's fine to say you can't enter a shop with your hood up, but this law says "in public" and no one can actually tell what someone's intent in wearing a hoodie is, so it's going to end up with young black men being stopped over and over and over again. It appears to be created in order to create more racial profiling. A kid is walking home from school and has his hood up because he's chilly or is trying to block the sun or he otherwise finds it comfortable. What is to stop a police officer from stopping him simply because he's wearing a hoodie? It creates legal reasonable cause where there isn't really reasonable cause.

Yes, everyone wears them, but it is particularly the fashion for young men, and it fits into the "thug" stereotype that is used an excuse to criminalize young black men. This law is just an excuse for police to stop them and accuse them of trying to hide their identiy, and then search them.

[belzabubba333]

33. have the police had a problem lately of harrassing black people ?

they dont need this law to do what youre saying they will do theyre doing it already.

[gollygee]

35. This will intensify an already horrible problem

So when they unjustly shoot someone and are asked why they stopped him, they can say, "he was wearing a hoodie." We don't have to make it even easier. We should be moving in the other direction.

[Warren Stupidity]

57. um, uh, what the flying fuck?

Great idea. let's give them more legal ways to harass the shit out of people. Fantastic!

[belzabubba333]

58. it wasnt my idea

[Warren Stupidity]

59. It is the fucked racist horseshit you are defending all over this thread.

[belzabubba333]

62. i never defended it in fact in the post youre responding to i said "they dont need this law"

[Warren Stupidity]

63. oh right.

[belzabubba333]

64. it's not my fault that youre jumping to conclusions and making assumptions

maybe you could point to where i defended it instead of "oh right"

[Warren Stupidity]

65. It's not my fault you've taken it upon yourself to be the defender of racist horseshit.

So I guess we are in the "no fault" zone.

[belzabubba333]

67. i'll ask again where did i defend it

do people on du answer questions or just hurl accusations

[belzabubba333]

70. still waiting

[LanternWaste]

71. "jumping to conclusions and making assumptions" versus hiding behind the implications of one's own..

"jumping to conclusions and making assumptions" versus hiding behind the implications of one's own words. One seems merely reactionary while the other seems cowardly.

[belzabubba333]

72. do you also think im defending this action

[belzabubba333]

73. of course calling people names on a message board under a fake name is anything but cowardly

[randys1]

51. If the bill passes no human should buy ANYTHING made in OK, we should create a special

website "Dont shop OK"


and list the products made there or businesses that are based there, etc.

We should make this kind of ignorant, stupid, mean, racist garbage so god damn expensive that these racist punks will think three times before doing it EVER Again.

[madokie]

68. Out of the four coats i have

three have hoodies on them.

[Aerows]

2. My mother wears

fashionable "hoodies" because she gets cold. She's approaching 80. It is interesting to me that if she goes to visit my sister who lives in OKC she could be arrested for wearing a hoodie. Oh wait, my blond, blue eyed sister wears them too because it gets cold there.

Perhaps our entire blue-eyed blond family members and our lawyer could get arrested at the airport before we really set foot on OK. Not that it would bother me, I'd prefer to stay away from there, myself.

[bravenak]

69. I guess your mom must be planning to 'Set it Off'.

[Aerows]

74. Clearly she is

a danger to society

[bravenak]

75. Tell her she needs a lowrider.

The neighbors would be at your house all day.

[Aerows]

76. LOL!! n/t

[belzabubba333]

3. you forgot the rest of the title. either while committing a crime or in order to intentionally

conceal one's identity. that's the title in it's entirety

[AtomicKitten]

6. yep, it's an "enhancer"

[belzabubba333]

8. the poster is trying to rile people up

[AtomicKitten]

10. Not the OP's fault; it is being reported that way.

Without reading the article attached, it gives a distorted impression. Unfortunately, it does give a nod to racial profiling.

[Solomon]

26. No, you are being stupid. Do you not realize that such a law would serve as a never-ending source

of police harassment for black people? Why say he was reaching for his waistband. Just say he was wearing a hoodie.

People should rightfully call out ridiculous harmful crap like this proposed law.

[belzabubba333]

31. as if black people are not already harrassed go ahead and call it out my only point is

about the title it says you can be arressted for wearing a hoodie and that's not what is in the article

[Feral Child]

37. On the contrary.

You're trying to rile people up, and deriving an unpleasant degree of satisfaction whilst doing so. It's practically onanistic.

[belzabubba333]

43. the op said "New Bill Would Make Wearing Hoodies A Crime" now that makes it sound like

if i wore a hoodie i could go to jail for wearing a hoodie. but the acutall law reads “wear a mask, hood, or covering” either while committing a crime or in order to intentionally conceal one’s identity" that was what my post was about now how am i riling people up

[Feral Child]

44. You're repeating yourself.

We can read. We can also understand what isn't said.

"Looking into the future in English" said no one you've ever read.

[belzabubba333]

46. that didnt answer the question

[Feral Child]

48. I don't have to answer redundancy, Sport.

In actuality, you're incapable of upsetting anyone; you're impotent.

Just another interloper, seething with sweaty self-hatred and trying vainly to project it onto others.

Truth is, I'm just playing with you, 'bubba. It must be miserable to know that those you'd like to denigrate are actually much better people than you are, much more successful and satisfied than you can ever be.

Relax and try to enjoy it, this is the most attention you'll ever get, your highest achievement.

[belzabubba333]

49. this is good "seething with sweaty self-hatred and trying vainly to project it onto others"

wow you sure are full of yourself listen to you "Truth is, I'm just playing with you, this is the most attention you'll ever get, your highest achievement" verbally sparing with you is my highest achievement. yep those are heights people only dream of soaring to.

" I don't have to answer redundancy" apparantly you dont answer questions either.

[Feral Child]

55. Not stupid ones.

Certainly not redundantly stupid questions I've already answered. Do try to keep up.

Sugar, you're not sparring with me. Please. Sparring would suggest you could lay a glove on me.

I'm just taking a break now and then from household chores to scribble out a post.


You missed my point (not surprisingly) with "achievement". Real people have acknowledged your existence. Some even pretend you've got something to say. For you, that's something.

Like that kid in the video trashing Walmart, you act up so someone notices you.

It's beginning to boor me, though. Time to put away my magnifying glass, let the formicidae rebuild.

Go on back to repeating that this only applies to crime. Maybe another DUer will be signing on and kick that can with you.

Or find some other adult conversation to interdict. (In Ter Dict: that's a synonym for "interrupt". Sin No Nym: means a word with the same meaning. Look at you and all you've learned today!)

[randys1]

52. BUt that makes no sense, you mean you can rob a store but wont be breaking the law unless

you wore a hoodie while robbing the store?

huh?

You see

PART TWO of the law says

intentionally conceal one’s identity

so ANY person wearing ANY hoodie CAN be arrested for NO other reason

[Aerows]

9. Oh. You are defending this initiative.

Well, I believe that explains precisely who you are if you are in favor of arresting people for wearing hoodies.

See, what happens is it starts as "committing a crime" and then becomes an excuse to harass and arrest people minding their own business.

[belzabubba333]

16. people are not to be arrested simply for wearing a hoodie - try reading the whole thing

because apparantly you havent.

[Neon Gods]

78. That's the way I read it too.

The question I have is, why is this law being proposed? What problem is it trying to fix? If we know this, we'll have a better idea what the intent of the law is. I know OK is freaky sometimes, but too many whites wear hoodies so any attempt to target only Blacks wearing hoodies would seem dangerously obviously racist to me.

[Feral Child]

22. And that's an equivocation.

Let's be real and admit it's purpose.

You're not making excuses to justify this nonsense, are you?

[belzabubba333]

28. the police dont need a hoodie law to harrass people - what excuse am i making

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

7. I don't see how this can be against the law

although I think any establishment should be able to deny entrance to anyone wearing a mask or covering which impedes identification.

[belzabubba333]

12. wearing a mask or covering which impedes identification. this is what the law is addressing

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

25. On the street or inside?

I guess I should more closely and not just skim.

[Vinca]

11. This is beyond dumb. Every grandma in the state should buy and wear hoodies in protest.

[SummerSnow]

13. No ban wearing these hoodies?

http://badfiction.typepad.com/.a/6a00e553b3b3a78833017743c93c05970d-500wi

[randys1]

53. Those are encouraged, by some...I sure wanna live long enough to see what happens

when Black people finally run out of what has been an abundance of patience.

I wanna be here to see it and participate in it.

[SummerSnow]

66. high five

[oberliner]

15. This law is already on the books in NY, DC, and California

Just FYI.

[Politicalboi]

17. Most wear baseball caps

Are we going to ban them too? I can see taking your hat off when inside businesses which would include hoodies, but ONLY for identification purposes, then you can put them back on if you wish.

[Aerows]

21. If you make enough laws

everyone is a lawbreaker.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

29. True, and I think some businesses would ignore the law

but, unfortunately, other establishments have a history of being robbed and would appreciate such a law and probably enforce it.

[Feral Child]

41. Businesses can't enforce this law.

Are they going to order all patrons to remove their hoods? What will they do if the patron refuses, refuse to sell him a deck of Kool Filter Kings? Will they call the po-po if someone is purchasing Skittles and a can of Arizona Tea whilst hooded?


I don't believe you're as stupid as you try to appear. Businesses in black neighborhood don't profile, most of their customers are black.

[Feral Child]

30. Thank Providence

Last edited Mon Jan 5, 2015, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm not the only one to see that.

Also, we all know how it will be applied.

"Hey, 'Young Black Man' you're wearing a hoodie, so you're probably commiting crime.
Bang!

BANG BANG BANG BANG

BANG


EDIT: BANG BANG BANG sucker can still testify BANG

[FiveGoodMen]

77. Then you enforce them selectively and PRESTO: Totalitarian rule.

Gov't can charge anyone, anytime, IF they want to.

That's where we're headed whether it's a plan or just the fascists' good fortune.

[Depaysement]

24. Good thing they don't have an NFL team

Otherwise, Bill Belichick would be arrested.

[Johonny]

27. Would a criminal not wear a hoodie while committing a crime

because this law exists? I don't understand the point of this law other than to steal another 50-500$ from an inmate.

[procon]

36. Maybe this is just another example of good intentions gone wrong

but from past incidents, I have a feeling that a broad, nonspecific law such as this is, will be wide open for misuse by used by cops who will interpret the law as a legal justification to excuse or escalate their hostile interactions with the groups of citizens who are their usual targets of opportunity.

In addition to the very popular hoodies -- and I love mine! -- wouldn't this poorly written law also apply to anyone who wears mufflers and scarves wrapped around their faces, or would the turned up collar of their coats be suspicious enough? More and more people are donning surgical masks for health concerns... so that would be unlawful too? Maybe sunglasses as well, since they cover part of the face... and makes the wearer look badass, scary cool and intimidating, or something.

As long as I'm on a roll... lets go for workmen with dirty faces that makes them unrecognizable, and cowboy hats, veils, and big sun bonnets too. Oh, and what about colorful sunscreen cremes, funny facepaint or goth-style makeup, tattoos, piercings, facial jewelry... yeah it's "hands up" time. Oh my! A whole new field for police harassment just opened up!

[Lee-Lee]

38. Most states in the south have anti-mask laws like this

As a result of the KKK, and efforts to crack down on them.

[onenote]

42. +1

[damnedifIknow]

39. A 500 dollar fine?

For wearing a hoodie? Can we spin the world backwards and have a do over?

[diabeticman]

40. or in order to intentionally conceal-- that is the slippery slope.

How many people see people who have to walk to get places or waiting for the bus. NOW think about that person in bitter temps what do they generally where? Hoodies to protect themselves from cold/rain/snow and are offend have a bent body shielding their face. I worry about a cop trying to use that law as a way to arrest someone just because that person is walking on a sidewalk as a cop drives by. Cop says this guy is concealing his identity.

[onenote]

45. No it wouldn't

Boy is this a trumped up bit of hyperbole.

First, as others have pointed out, legislation such as this exists in many jurisdictions and has for decades. Its origins have to do with efforts to legislate against the KKK.

Second, Oklahoma law already makes it illegal "to wear a mask, hood, or covering that conceals the identity of the wearer during the commission of a crime or for purpose of coerciaon, intimidation, or harassment."

Third, the language being added would make it a misdemenor for a person to "intentionally conceal his or her identity by means of a robe, mask, or other disguise."

So, let's review. Hoods that conceal the identity of the wearer (i.e., hoods such as those worn by the KKK) are and have been unlawful if worn during the commission of a crime or for purpose of intimidation, harassment, or coercion. Hoods in this context has a specific meaning and it does not encompass a hoodie or other article of clothing that doesn't conceal the wearer's identity.

The additional language doesn't even refer to hoods. It refers to intentionally concealing one's identity by a robe, mask or other disguise." Again, not a hoodie, which doesn't conceal one's identity the way a mask or robe or disguise does.

[belzabubba333]

47. careful now the bait was laid and the ragers are feasting there's no time for nuance

nuance, something the left has been accusing the right of not being able to recognize

[benz380]

50. So with security cameras everywhere in stores and on the streets,

you can be fined wherever you are in view of a security camera? How do they determine you were trying to conceal yourself? Oh, I know how. If you're a person of color, you're trying to hide your identity. Watch out for those traffic cams too, or you'll get stopped
for 'driving while hooded AND black'

[Maedhros]

54. What does Oklahoma have against Bill Belichick? [n/t]

[Warren Stupidity]

60. Bill was wearing a hoodie while stealing the jets signals.

[Glassunion]

56. New bill would not make wearing hoodies a crime.

However, I do take issue with it.

Basically as I read (the bill, not the article) it, it would be open season on anyone in a Guy Fawkes mask at an occupy protest.

Text of the bill... http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20INT/SB/SB13%20INT.PDF

[Blue_Tires]

61. Let's call this bill what it really is:

Making it a crime for minorities to wear hooded sweatshirts; because no white folks are getting fined for this...

[nichomachus]

79. I'd rather see them pass a law to criminalize wearing

spandex or yoga pants in public.

[hughee99]

80. Why is the University of Oklahoma aiding criminals?

They've been selling Sooners hoodies in their bookstore for years.

http://www.bkstr.com/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10001&productId=72931250&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&langId=-1&storeId=10065&demoKey=d&cm_mmc=RisePaidSearch-_-ComparativeShopping-_-Google-_-Store%20831&mr:referralID=f30df94b-95f5-11e4-8d82-001b2166becc