# Is doing my daily shopping in a mask sufficient grounds for being arrested? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399 "2004-11-06T21:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/21 "2004-11-07T04:27:56Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > It’s interesting that the Minnesota law also contains no provision for working, which would make my landscaper guilty when he wears the head covering, dark sunglasses/goggles and aspirator mask that he wears when mowing grass. (He’s a landscaper, yet he has big-time grass allergies. Go figure.) If he wore that get up into any store, they’d believe that they were getting held up, for sure. Like \*\* BrotherCadfael\*\* said, the law was aimed at cracking down on Klan activities. If some overzealous prosecutor filed charges against a welder who was fixing the wrought iron fence outside the courthouse, you can bet that anti-mask laws would be declared unconstitutional pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/22 "2004-11-07T06:43:05Z")
**TeaElle** , your allergic landscaper would be protected by the fact that he’s not only on private property, but wearing his mask for medical reasons. (Any reasonable interpretation of the phrase “or incidental to … medical treatment” would include wearing a mask to filter out allergens.) **Diceman** : Looking at the exact wording of the statute, I cannot see anything that would explicitly excuse a welder from the full force of the law. Which means I fully agree with you: The moment the law’s applied to something so trivially moronic, it’s going to be struck down. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/23 "2004-11-07T08:17:02Z")
I noticed this Halloween that a sign posted in our independent movie theater for a gathering of the local NORML group was for a costumed gathering in front of the State House (I suppose it was a party/demonstration?) but said specifically that as the city of Columbia does not allow full face masks, not to wear them. I assume the organizers were worried about the mask law being used as a pretext. The weird thing is that I’m _always_ running into the NORML people - at restaurants, their tables at events, etc. Whereas other equally active groups - the college Republicans, say, or any other group with a disproportionately large student base, I never see. It’s not like I eat at particularly pothead restaurants, either. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/24 "2004-11-08T10:59:57Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **Diceman** : Looking at the exact wording of the statute, I cannot see anything that would explicitly excuse a welder from the full force of the law. Which means I fully agree with you: The moment the law’s applied to something so trivially moronic, it’s going to be struck down. Medical grounds?If he doesn’t wear a mask,he’s going to risk burning his eyes out. Which would appear to be a rather serious medical complaint ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/25 "2004-11-08T11:14:16Z")
The OP said **"Is doing my daily shopping in a mask sufficient grounds in and of itself for actual arrest, or just being questioned?"** It does depend on where you live, and when you did it. Just wearing a mask can be grounds for being stopped and questioned, but remember that being stopped and questioned does not mean you’re in custody or under arrest, unless of course there’s a law against wearing a mask in public, which means that you’re potentially a suspect, until the cop finds out what you’re up to. IMO, the welder example is really not applicable to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/26 "2004-11-08T12:45:49Z")
New York city law apparently bans the wearing of masks by protesters, as [actress Rosario Dawson discovered in August:](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/227178p-195120c.html) > [@](#): > > Dawson was wearing a black bandanna over her face when NYPD cops arrested her. > > Dawson, 25, and co-star Vija Brigita Grosgalvis were bundled into a police wagon as director Stephen Marshall tried in vain to show cops city film permits. Police cited city laws barring protesters from hiding their identities with masks. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/27 "2004-11-08T12:52:17Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > Medical grounds?If he doesn’t wear a mask,he’s going to risk burning his eyes out. Which would appear to be a rather serious medical complaint But that’s preventative maintenence, as it were, not a treatment for an existing condition. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/28 "2004-11-08T13:19:43Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > New York City has a similar statute which dates back a couple hundred years. It was used to arrest a lot of obnoxious mask-wearing protestors during the WTO thing a few years back. It also used to be used to harass transvestites (who the police claimed were “in disguise”). This sort of harassment contributed to the Christopher Street riots in 1969. The use of anti-disguise laws against crossdressers, transvestites, and transsexuals has diminished considerably but is still an issue, especially since 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/29 "2004-11-08T14:00:09Z")
I like to wear a jacket with a very big, long hood while grocery shopping. I was questioned once by the store manager about it (Are you all right? Is it too cold in here?"). Now he just says “Hello” when he sees me. ---
**Author:** ![ctaylor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ctaylor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/30 "2004-11-10T06:56:15Z")
A few years ago I walked into a drug store in suburban Atlanta wearing my motorcycle helmet because I was too lazy to take it off and the woman behind the counter gave me a hard time. In retrospect, I can’t say I really blame her. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399/31 "2004-11-10T08:26:13Z")
Okay, I have a slightly different take on the subject. What if someone with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder wanted to wear a surgeon-type mask everywhere as protection from germs? Would they be allowed to wear it in places such as a store, an airplane, a mall, etc. since you can see the eyes, and since it’s a medical reason? (P.S. This is for something I’m writing.) My boyfriend used to host a college radio show with two other guys and one time they did the show with plastic Halloween masks on. The faculty found out and they were suspended for a few weeks. But that’s only because they were giving some high school kids a tour of the radio station while the show was going on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-doing-my-daily-shopping-in-a-mask-sufficient-grounds-for-being-arrested/273399.md?page=1)