A lawyer will probably have to jump in here, but I know that some communities have a crime called prowling, or sometimes skulking, that prohibits people from sneaking around at night. I guess you could think of it as aggrivated loitering.
Speaking of loitering, I wonder if people have a problem with those laws, too? Shouldn’t people be free to stand on streetcorners or in front of other people’s houses or businesses for no discernable reason? How long has THIS violation of freedom been going on?
I took my previous example to a stupid extreme above, and I will back off on it, but I still believe I had a valid point. Protestors can have valid reasons for hiding their identities. I tried to demonstate that above, but I don’t think I was successful.
TeaElle, there is huge difference between a group of people demonstrating in a park/in front of a state capital/in front of the RNC/etc while wearing masks (or even KKK hoods) and 3 men hanging out in the front of a single black woman’s house. One case is valid political discourse and the other is targeted intimidation.
How about this for a better analogy: When I vote I do not want my neighbors, coworkers, government, or even relatives to know how I voted. I do not want my vote published because of potential retaliation for my beliefs.
Say my state had a referendum on the legality of gay marriage and I voted to legalize it. I know of neighbors, coworkers and even some close relatives that would discriminate against me because I voted this way. I can imagine several of my neighbors yelling epithets on the street as they drove by and possibly even engaging in some late night vandalism. Because of the strength and vehemence of these people’s convictions, I do not engage in political discourse with them. I avoid this topic of conversation and we get along fine. If my vote were published, I would not have that choice. My fear of reprisal, in whatever form, would be coercive and I might change my vote.
I believe that public demonstration is an equally valid method of wielding personal political power. Forcing someone to identify themselves prior to protesting is coercive in that many well intentioned, law abiding citizens will re-think their desire to protest for fear of reprisals from members of the community (not to mention government). I know people who would support gay marriage in secret ballot, but would deny that they supported it when speaking to their coworkers, friends, and even their parents. How would these people partake in a gay rights rally except by wearing a mask?