Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

This fight is for everything.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Come on, man.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

The willow is too close to the house.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / Hood Rats

Hood Rats

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When it comes to 1) firearms and 2) sweatshirts with hoods on them, guess which one Oklahoma Republicans want to regulate to the point of making illegal?

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.”

Republicans are clearly for smaller, less intrusive government.  Unless it’s for black people, in which case criminalize every aspect of their lives.

Bonus points: under this legislation, who decides if a person is wearing a hoodie to “intentionally conceal” their identity?  Why, the cops, of course.

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    J.D. Rhoades

    I got a hoodie for Christmas. Comes in very handy when walking the dog in the woods on cold mornings. I’d like to see someone try to arrest me for wearing it.

  2. 2.

    BGinCHI

    What could possibly go right?

    Oklahoma: come for the dustbowl, stay for the pleasure of taking Native American land for at least the second time.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    “wear a mask, hood, or covering” either while committing a crime or in order to intentionally conceal one’s identity.

    As opposed to, you know, those other types of masks. I guess Clark Kent better ditch those glasses.

    I wonder if the bill will have an exception for pointy white hoods.

  4. 4.

    Derelict

    The answer to the crime problem! We’ll regulate appearance! First, no hoodies. Second, no baggy pants. Then we can ban close-cropped curly hair. Then complete shaved heads. Then Afros. Finally, we can just make it illegal to be Black and out of your house without a permit.

    All in the name of freedom, you understand.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    First of all, how does one wear a hoodie so that it covers one’s face? Back to front?

  8. 8.

    Mike in NC

    So I read that and need to ask: if you commit a crime while NOT wearing a mask or hood in Oklahama, you won’t be prosecuted? Good to know.

  11. 11.

    jannydarling

    In the old days men put their collars up and pulled their hats down when they didn’t want to be identified. Can you imagine trying to outlaw the fedora in the 30’s, 40’s or 50’s?

  12. 12.

    Mart

    Writer’s block led to a midnight run in my upper middle class white suburb. Suddenly a cop car fly’s into the driveway in front of me causing me to stumble into it. It’s my neighbor cop Gary. What the hell Gary? What the hell Mart? You’re wearing a hoodie, it’s midnight, and you’re running. What do you expect?

  13. 13.

    MattF

    Another Oklahoma story:

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/12/oklahoma_and_nebraska_sue_colorado_a_hypocritical_lawsuit_could_undermine.html

    Yeah, it’s a link to Slate, but the story is irresistible. Attorneys-General of Nebraska and Oklahoma are suing to stop Colorado from legalizing pot. These same AGs sued to stop Obamacare, on the grounds that it infringed on state’s rights– but in this instance they– somehow– feel differently about the state’s rights. The article has horrified quotations from legal academic right-wingers. Since, you see, it’s almost as though ‘state’s rights’ was merely a convenient way for these AGs to oppose things they just don’t like. Imagine that.

  15. 15.

    kindness

    Is there really a lot of crime in OK where the perpetrators are wearing masks &/or hoodies? What is the statistic?

  16. 16.

    kathy a.

    Excuse me? Hooded sweatshirts and jackets are completely sensible items for babies, for kids who don’t like hats and/or umbrellas, and for all kinds of adults. Like me.

    This is even more stupid than baggy pants laws. But I guess the fact that no babies or grey-hairs will ever be arrested under this law just underscores the vast unregulated judgment that would be accorded police in enforcing the law.

  17. 17.

    Mustang Bobby

    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.

    Except for burkas because terrorism.

  18. 18.

    Keith G

    @J.D. Rhoades: I think that’s is a safe bet that no one will try to arrest you in your hoodie…ever.

    First of all, it’s Oklahoma, Jake. They are truly in their own universe. Second, the Constitution may not mean as much as it used to, but a hoodie law will not make the cut.

    This is a dog bites man story as assemblyman and assemblywomen are often proposing silly-assed ideas such as these.

  20. 20.

    Mart

    My daughter works in an big inner city high school. The Principal has hoodie rage. He has severely reprimanded all teachers when he enters a classroom and finds a hoodie up. Just after giving all the teachers xmas presents featuring – WTF? – hooded sweatshirts, with the school’s logo and colors; he told them that he would send HR a report each time he finds a hoodie up that will go in their permanent file.

  21. 21.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Good to know that rioting cops that are wearing those helmets/facemasks “riot gear” will now be prosecuted, right?

  25. 25.

    patrick II

    I don’t know what “while committing a crime” encompasses. Will the hoodie law further enable police to do those sort of pile on charges when they encounter someone they don’t like? For instance, for the crime of selling a loosie, can wearing a hooded sweatshirt can add another charge and $500 bucks to the deficit of someone who probably can’t afford it?

  26. 26.

    RepubAnon

    So, if some people decide that they’d all like to wear hoodies, can they be arrested for conspiracy to attempt to conceal their identities? If they text each other stating that they plan to buy hoodies as a form of protest, can they be arrested for attempting to conspire to conceal their identities?

    Don’t laugh – folks planning on meeting to discuss forming a third political party during the McCarthy era were successfully convicted of attempting to conspire to overthrow the US government. Attempting to overthrow the government means marching down the street with pitchforks and torches; conspiring to overthrow the government means getting together and planning out where the marchers will meet, and someone going out and trying to buy the pitchforks. Attempting to conspire is calling someone the government doesn’t like and saying “hey, want to get together?”

  27. 27.

    Zam

    Just another capital crime. If you don’t want to get shot, don’t break the law, even if the law was designed as an excuse to shoot you.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mart:
    I presume the hoodies themselves don’t violate the school dress code, and the teacher will be able to identify the student even with the hood up. What offence is the report gong to cite the teacher for?

  29. 29.

    Mike J

    Since when is concealing your identity a crime? The “or” is what makes this bad. while committing a crime OR to conceal your identity.

    If I’m not committing a crime, why can’t I conceal my identity?

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    Seems like OK should be more concerned about covering other parts of the body. Aren’t they second in the nation for teen pregnancy rates?

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Let’s just get it over with and formally make it, de jure, legal for police to kill black kids for any reason at all. To include breathing.

    Why fuck around? Let your freak Hackenkreuz flag fly, Don Barrington. Be honest for once in your miserable racist life. Just once. This one time.

  34. 34.

    Mustang Bobby

    I sell BBWW hoodies at my CafePress site. Does that make me liable for somebody getting busted for showing up at a Circle K in Bartlesville if they have the good taste to buy one from me?

  36. 36.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mustang Bobby: Of course it does.

    This principle of course does not apply to firearms or ammunition manufacturers, distributors, or retailers.

  37. 37.

    Keith G

    @Amir Khalid: That may be too large of a presumption. Many schools have dress codes saying that hats and other types of head covering is not allowed unless the head is being covered as part of a religious practice..

  38. 38.

    JaneE

    What if you are not wearing a mask to conceal your identity, but to protest overreaching government?

  39. 39.

    ruemara

    @Derelict: I’m sure they can assign black peoples a good white person to squire them around. Perhaps some sort of leash contraptions, to make leading easier.

    I read about this story a couple of hours ago. I swear, I’m starting to think being black in America should allow me to request asylum in some other country.

  40. 40.

    MomSense

    @raven:

    hese yo-yo pukes propose all kinds of shit that doesn’t pass just to keep liberals pissed off.

    I hope to disappoint.

    Did you see the Stones Sweet Summer Sun ? It’s their 2013 Hyde Park concert. We watched it today and it was a lot of fun. The whole band is fantastic but it was especially great to hear Bobby Keys play so well.

  41. 41.

    Mart

    @Amir Khalid: Not sure if the no hoodie up is district or school policy. Pushing the policy in the hallways OK, lots of gang issues, fights, and related. In the classroom, kid gets cold, pulls up the hoodie, who cares? The class knows who he is. Just really enjoyed my daughter complaining about the hoodie policcy while wearing her principle’s Christmas gift school hoodie. Tried to explain to her management gets no better on the private side.

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    @raven:

    I’ll have to pick that up at the library. I think you will like it. Half the fun was seeing the people in the crowd–all ages having fun.

  49. 49.

    Ruviana

    I totally agree with the critiques here and recognize the racist subtext but this also reminds me of the attempt to ban black trenchcoats after Columbine, because it’s all about the clothes and never ever about the GUNZZZZ

  50. 50.

    Mart

    @efgoldman: Forgot about that book/movie. Thanks for the link. My daughter is living the same story 50 years later. Wow. Remember that was a great movie. Will have to rent; invite the daughter and boyfriend over for dinner, movie, and popcorn.

    After doing miraculous work for 3 plus years, she is out next year. Since her test scores are so good she has been rewarded with nearly double the classroom load the other teachers have. She is the de-facto leader of her Department. District is getting all Chartered out next year. They want to send her to the “good students” school. Not to mention non-existent pay raises. A shame she is leaving. This country has flat out stopped giving a shit about these kids.

  51. 51.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Lavocat: Yeah, speaking of money, does it occur to the good people of Oklahoma it’s going to cost them a shitload of money to defend this law in court should it become law? Must be nice to have all those tax dollars to burn off.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    O/T, former Senator Edward Brooke has died at age 95. Another “first.” May he RIP.

    (I don’t know that much about him, but I expect a lot of our Massholes will want to share their memories of Brooke. Maybe we could have a dedicated thread later this evening?)

  54. 54.

    Lavocat

    @Mustang Bobby: I hear Governor Brownback of Kansas is advising them. Tax cuts all around! I’m thinking they might be thinking the law will fund itself. Or something.

  57. 57.

    Kevin

    It’s bizarre that hoodies are considered the “black” thing, and a “thug” thing to wear. In Canada, it’s basically what everybody wears all winter. You Americans are silly.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    Had I been in Massachusetts, I imagine I would voted for him as well. In fact, I had actually forgotten he was a Republican until I read the Boston Globe obit:
    http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/03/edward-brooke-first-african-american-elected-senate-since-reconstruction-dies/oRou5Pz1NyxIiX1ExZ9w6K/story.html?hootPostID=73a97ef72588a4e4b40679e55fb76b5d

    (I really apologize for the ugly link — a couple of months ago I stopped being able to do clean hotlinks over here. Not sure whether it’s the fault of FYWP or the iPad. Either way, it means hideous strings like the one above.)

  60. 60.

    Botsplainer

    @Josie:

    Goddammit – I got me some fungus and would appreciate the ad. I get the Aquacat and Blackbeard’s Dive Cruises.

  62. 62.

    MattR

    At least the “while committing a crime” part has a bit of logic behind it. I happen to think it is stupid, but I can at least understand the desire to add punishment to criminals that make it hard to identify them. But the “intentionally conceal his or her identity in a public place” part is horrific and seems designed solely to give police another tools they can use to detain and harass people they don’t like.

  64. 64.

    Mart

    @lol: Interestingly she was anti-union in a right to work state, so never joined. Think it has to do with college profs pushing the Union = old lazy teachers that can never be fired line to the young pups. I kept asking her to join the Union to at least push-back on her overloaded schedule. She was stressed to the point of illness several times over the years. This year she got in a bind after being set-up by a kid. (Assume he got his line of attack from the internet, pretty nasty piece of work.) No help from her principle. Finally got her to join the Union, and the faux problem then was pretty quicklly handled, and put to rest. Before theUnion stepped in she thought she would be fired – even with the best scores in the District. Hope she learned her lesson on why Unions were created.

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne

    @MattR:

    Keep in mind that the same kind of people who bitch and moan about hate crimes being add-ons to other criminal charges are the ones pushing this law. Because charging someone with a hate crime for beating someone up for being gay is “criminalizing thought” while arresting someone for wearing a hoodie just in case they might be thinking about committing a crime is common sense, amirite?

  67. 67.

    Schlemazel

    @Southern Beale:
    Theres a guy at GOS that puts up a column almost every week of the most recent 100 ‘accidental’ shooting. There are always a bunch of children & the youngest shooter is always under 5, often 2-3 years old. Is this a great country or what?

  68. 68.

    raven

    NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH’-zee-oh) and Police Commissioner William Bratton have been saluted as they entered a funeral home for an officer’s wake.

    The action by officers Saturday at the wake of Wenjian Liu (WEHN’-jihn loo) was in contrast to the hundreds of police who turned their backs to video screens showing the mayor speaking at last week’s funeral of Liu’s police partner, Rafael Ramos.

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, for those lucky enough not to have Fox-watching relatives, the whole “hoodie” thing is a frickin’ obsession with them. According to Fox, the only possible reason a young black man would put up his hood is to commit a crime, unlike normal (aka white) people who wear hoods when it’s cold or raining.

    Ironically, probably the most famous hoodie-wearing criminal was this indisputably white guy.

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    Tempest in a tea party pot.

    Should it ever become law, wouldn’t last five minutes when challenged in court. Even in Oklahoma.

  77. 77.

    Mike in NC

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ed Brooke belonged to the now extinct species known as “moderate-to-liberal Republican” Senator. Nominated me to attend the USAF Academy in case a few other guys suddenly dropped dead. RIP, sir.

  81. 81.

    danielx

    Bonus points: under this legislation, who decides if a person is wearing a hoodie to “intentionally conceal” their identity? Why, the cops, of course.

    That would be these cops, for example?

  84. 84.

    Botsplainer

    @Mike in NC:

    Nominated me to attend the USAF Academy in case a few other guys suddenly dropped dead. RIP, sir.

    You didn’t miss anything. Place was weird.

  90. 90.

    sm*t cl*de

    nor would it apply to people who wear head coverings for religious purposes.

    Any law with a religious opt-out clause is clearly not designed for obtaining convictions.

  94. 94.

    eemom

    OT, and I guess it is old news by now, but I just noticed the Wonkette box over where that right wing headline thingie used to be. Awesome sauce.

  97. 97.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @MattR: I suspect many, many states have similar laws, and it’s the “hood” part that is (rightfully) getting attention.

    E.g. Virginia Code:

    § 18.2-422. Prohibition of wearing of masks in certain places; exceptions.

    It shall be unlawful for any person over 16 years of age to, with the intent to conceal his identity, wear any mask, hood or other device whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, to be or appear in any public place, or upon any private property in this Commonwealth without first having obtained from the owner or tenant thereof consent to do so in writing. However, the provisions of this section shall not apply to persons (i) wearing traditional holiday costumes; (ii) engaged in professions, trades, employment or other activities and wearing protective masks which are deemed necessary for the physical safety of the wearer or other persons; (iii) engaged in any bona fide theatrical production or masquerade ball; or (iv) wearing a mask, hood or other device for bona fide medical reasons upon (a) the advice of a licensed physician or osteopath and carrying on his person an affidavit from the physician or osteopath specifying the medical necessity for wearing the device and the date on which the wearing of the device will no longer be necessary and providing a brief description of the device, or (b) the declaration of a disaster or state of emergency by the Governor in response to a public health emergency where the emergency declaration expressly waives this section, defines the mask appropriate for the emergency, and provides for the duration of the waiver. The violation of any provisions of this section is a Class 6 felony.

    (Code 1950, §§ 18.1-364, 18.1-367; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1986, c. 19; 2010, cc. 262, 420; 2014, c. 167.)

    It seems as though wearing a hood or mask in the winter would be Ok (the intent isn’t to conceal), but one never knows…

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  100. 100.

    Steve from Antioch

    Violent crime is such problem in this country that we should all be willing to sacrifice a few of our rights to help curb it.

    Am I right people???

  102. 102.

    Grung_e_Gene

    Concealing your identity while in the commission of a crime, e.g. UUW, is often an enhancing penalty 720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(9). However, what everyone here has obviously grasped is this is directly making a specific clothing item illegal because of whom it is associated. IANAL but, I am a LEO.

  103. 103.

    Citizen Alan

    @MattF:

    These same AGs sued to stop Obamacare, on the grounds that it infringed on state’s rights– but in this instance they– somehow– feel differently about the state’s rights.

    There’s nothing new in this hypocrisy. They’re the heirs of the antebellum slave-owners who thought that states rights guaranteed their right to keep slavery legal within their own borders but not the right of Northern states to be free of the Fugitive Slave Act.

  104. 104.

    Citizen Alan

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Well, any scarf worn on the head in deference to Muslim tradition is, by definition, terrorism.

    Remember when the Malkin Creature accused Rachael Ray of supporting terrorism because she wore a paisley fringed shawl in a Dunkin Donuts commercial that, in the Malkin Creature’s paranoid fantasies, vaguely resembled Arafat’s burnoose? Good times.

  106. 106.

    billb

    I have 2 Oregon Duck Hoodies, and you can be damned sure I am wearing them everyday til the Natty!
    And Gaia willing, when we win!!!!!
    GOOOO DUUUCKS
    [and no cop in Oregon will stop you for that]

  107. 107.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @Grung_e_Gene:

    There is a link above to a PDF of the proposed law and the part that seems potentially problematic to me as a non-lawyer is that they’re adding a provision to an existing law that makes it illegal to attempt to conceal your identity in public even if there is no crime committed or attempted. How in the heck do you go to court and prove that you were not trying to conceal your identity, you were just cold?

    Also, too, if I read the law correctly, it’s illegal to put on blackface makeup unless you’re part of a minstrel troupe. Seriously, the word “minstrel” is in the law.

  108. 108.

    mclaren

    Does this apply to police?

    Most of the riot-armored police I see nowadays are wearing full-ski-mask-style head coverings that make them look like home invaders.

    I’m definitely in favor of passing a law that makes that kind of police head-covering illegal.

  110. 110.

    Lurking Canadian

    I wear a mask every time I walk my dog between December and April. It’s not to conceal my face. It’s ’cause I don’t like frostbite.

    I think Oklahoma has non-trivial winters, so I’m sure they’ve also encountered this phenomenon. However, I am also sure this law will NEVER be used to harass a middle-aged white dude. Not who it’s for at all.

  111. 111.

    arcacdesproject

    @J.D. Rhoades:
    Counted my hoodies. I’ve got three. Three separate offenses. Three strikes and your out. Life in prison! (OK, that’s in California. But still.)

  112. 112.

    Grung_e_Gene

    @ Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    Yes this law makes the act of wearing a robe, mask or disguise the crime in and of itself, which is ridiculous. Remember if enacted, this would grant an officer PC to stop and detain a person, and then ascertain if there’s anything else you can pinch you on. Any arrests made simply because of this statute would probably be aimed at breaking apart protests (Guy Fawkes mask wearers, bandanas, and so forth).

    Also, this enhancing penalty is specifically barred from being used on the criminal pranks of masked Halloween children…

    But, as to the point of legal defense, if arrested you should always argue safety (which is left vague without modifiers) and weather (it’s dusty in OK got to protect your lungs).

    Of course, it’s not right that you’d be arrested for a hoodie but then it’s Republicans we are talking about.

  113. 113.

    kuvasz

    If the government can tell you what not to wear, it can tell you what you have to wear, say a pink triangle or six-pointed star.

  114. 114.

    pluege

    nothing like “small” government republicanism telling what they can and can’t wear.

Comments are closed.