ncnewsline.com/2024/05/15/nc-senate-approves-bill-making-it-a-crime-to-wear-a-mask-in-public/
NC Senate approves bill making it a crime to wear a mask in public
They pass bills wanting the legal challenges. It's all in the plan.
My theory is it’s to generate legal fee income for their donor/law firm buddies.
It’s crazy how much of government is about embezzling money to your friends, families and donors with projects and waste. I have no doubt you’re right about this. Good way to steal public funds to give to your buddies.
That's because the people allow it to happen. If politicians knew people would pull out the liberty boxes (soap, ballot, jury and ammo) each time they pulled this crap, it wouldn't happen as often anymore.
The worst politicians often get into office on an anti-corruption platform.
They run against corruption, not because they are against corruption, but because they see it as an easy path to power.
Which is why freedom of the press is so important. Many independent eyes to keep them in check. But these days this concept is in quite a bit of trouble. Many news sources all being part of the same entity and AI powered fake news are a serious challenge for the next decade.
News costs money. Propaganda is free.
This is exactly what Ron DeSantis has been doing. Guess who his biggest donors will be when he runs for Senate.
And the money from fines will be from "liberals"
Billable hours strikes again
It's also cheaper for them than campaigning. Doing stupid stuff like this that their base eats up scores them points, and they can send the taxpayers the bill when it gets challenged in court. Then when it's overturned, they get the paint themselves as the victimized underdog. It's a win-win.
I mean, it's not a win for the people or anything, but it's a great deal for the Republicans.
I recently posted about this kind of grift in Florida. Rhonda sandtits is just using his laughably absurd legislation to funnel money to his lawyer buds, who then make campaign donations to him and his criminal buds. Democracy is dead until we remove money from politics. The trouble with that is that the people making the money would have to vote to give that up, i'll just hold my breath and wait...
It's also a old tactic the right uses to test the system and clog it up.
Pass something draconic if it gets struck down whine and complain to their base that they are being attacked if it doesn't get struck down then they get more power.
The system is flawed allowing this.
Yes to get these cases across to the dumbfuck conservatives judges McConnell put in, and solidify this kind of actual BS into law. Send to scotus, the clown court, and they’d likely side w this anti-privacy dystopian ideology our fascist conservatives are kicking into gear.
Sister fucking allowed, masks to stop the spread of a disease, unacceptable.
Proud Boys are very conflicted right now : o
Edit: to clarify, I meant the wearing masks being illegal but the fact people are assuming sister fucking are also on point
The Proud Boys don’t debase themselves by having sex with women. It’s not manly enough.
I can see First Amendment and religious freedom arguments, too.
Yup, anyone who wants to wear a Niqab
And proud boys? Asking for a fascist.
They'll always get preferential treatment from the cops no matter what
The cops aren’t going to arrest themselves when they’re marching.
No, this violates several federal laws in addition to being stupid as fuck. This is my state and our government is such an embarressment, NC would be one of the best states if we could get all these Republican assholes out of the government.
I moved to NC from a state generally regarded as pretty backwards and have been shocked and dismayed at the state politics here. It’s on another level!
The state is insanely purple and the local GOP party has done everything in their power to turn back the clock in recent years and piss off/push out democratic voters but give it a couple more years and this will be a solidly Blue state. Charlotte and RDU are growing massively and eventually the Dems in the cities will outnumber the Republicans in the rural areas and we will actually be able to make some progress in this state. The only reason they are in power now is because NC is ridiculously gerrymandered in favor of the Republicans.
I’m in Johnston. Usually it’s fairly rural republican when it comes to politics out here, but we went blue in the midterms! Change is coming.
You then have to worry about the GOP gerrymandering the hell out of the state.
That's what happened here in Oklahoma :( We used to be pretty blue, but Republicans got in power and gerrymandered the everloving fuck out of the state. Now it's impossible to get things done.
It doesn’t matter how blue your cities are. Your legislature will stay red through gerrymandering. Look at Wisconsin.
A few more years and the republicans will be out we always say that but they’re like cancer they keep coming back
We moved out of NC after 18-1/2 years there. The state government is unbelieviable, the gerrymandering incredible. We now live in a solidly blue state with decent, reasonable laws for the most part. Oh yes, and the weather is a lot better as well.
NC would be one of the best states if we could get all these Republican assholes out of the government.
The entire country would be immediately improved by removing Republicans from any government role.
Just when I thought we couldn’t get any stupider than the stupid bathroom law.
I would have heavily considered moving to NC if it wasn't for the government
And like... A violation of freedom of expression. It would be like them saying you can't wear white after Labor Day or something. You absolutely can and they can't regulate that.
Basically the courts should shoot it down on the first lawsuit
Wasn't requesting proof of disability if someone had a medical condition precluding them from wearing a mask also an ADA violation?
Plus a number if other federal laws & is probably unconstitutional. Seems to me that anyone trying to pass laws that would obviously be struck down instantly should be forced to pay out of their pocket for the wasted public monies.
It's also violating the fucking 1st amendment at least
I wonder how this squares with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Imagine having a disability that requires a mask. The cops take off the mask, arrest you, and process you into jail, placing you at especially high risk. It sounds like a settlement payday for your next of kin if you die.
That’s how you get the ADA struck down by the courts.
Do tell.
You create a law that runs afoul of the ADA that isn’t about disability. Someone challenges the law and loses in court. That way you get rid of or at least weaken the ADA without suffering the political consequences of voting against it.
Makes sense, unfortunately.
That’s what they did with the Voting Rights Act.
Man that really has been the planned patterned. But what benefit is there to weaken ADA?
Achieving and maintaining ADA compliance costs businesses money and infringes on the “personal rights” of business owners.
It also continues to normalize discrimination against out groups.
Shady and greedy businesses prob lobby these politicians so they can stop following ada rules
Next headline: "(insert red state here) bans ramps into private businesses. Cites undue burden on business owners. Encourages the disabled to 'try harder'."
That's my girlfriend. Disabled, absolutely needs to wear a mask every day. I know realistically no cops will force my tiny sweet gf to take off her mask. But I can't help but think about it and it makes me flare up so badly.
Wont stop someone from attacking her on the street, unfortunately. Isn’t that how it happens in Iran? How long before mask police (who will 100% be allowed to wear masks) drag people off the street? I’m so sickened by the lack of human decency.
It’s allllll part of project 2025 that Trump and the RNC have planned.
That's the true plan, cops get to do nothing because conservatives LOVE taking the law into their own hands.
Never underestimate how shitty cops are capable of being. They can do almost anything except hold other cops accountable.
Cops in Knoxville arrested a disabled person in a wheelchair for being on lawn of the the university where they pay tuition. The person was in a wheelchair when arrested and a jailer made them walk across a room unassisted to get their cane.
A cop in NYC pulled down a protesters mask to pepper spray them. They were cleared of all wrong doing.
I know realistically no cops will force my tiny sweet gf to take off her mask.
Oh, my sweet summer child. Your girlfriend is now in mortal danger from cops due to this ruling. Well, more mortal danger than before.
If your partner is disabled, don't trust cops to not target any and every visible minority group .
As long as her skin color crosses the south park threshold of whiteness, she's probably OK.
How lucky for them
I work in healthcare and we wear masks frequently to protect our clients, not just inside our facilities, also in public or in people's homes if we think there's a risk.
I have not read the law in detail but does not it regulate mask wearing in public?
I would hope it is silent on workplace mask wearing. There are a lot of hospitals that mandate their doctors. Mask up on the surgery theater.
My brother-in-law has celiacs disease and he knows a woman who has it so severely that she has to wear a mask while grocery shopping or else she gets a reaction.
What in the absolute stupid fucking shit is this?
It also looks like if I read it right that amendments to protect the ability to wear them for those that are sick had failed to pass.
Guess which state is going to be biting the dust if a measles epidemic happens again. If I remember correctly there were a measles breakouts happening before Covid and idiotic parents were even throwing “measles parties”.
We had chicken pox parties when I was young. But that was before the vaccine, when you were definitely going to get chicken pox at some point, and it was safer to get it as a child than as an adult. Getting an illness on purpose that you can fully avoid is insane.
It's the party of small government...
...Except when it comes to your actual personal rights
Yes, because it was believed that it wasn't necessary. This basically brings it back to the way it was before COVID, before they put in exemptions. This repeals those exemptions. It wasn't a problem before, and they doubt it will be now.
"were going back to blissful ignorance except after 4 years of the hill of evidence that masks save lives has become a rocky mountain range the height of Everest"
Ladies and gentlemen, the small government party.
The "You have nothing to hide" party
Beyond the ADA violation, I'd imagine it's also a first amendment violation. To my understanding, anyways, anything that doesn't run afoul of indecent exposure laws can't really be made illegal.
It'd also be a violation of freedom of religion since some require masking (namely certain sects of Islam), be it during the average day-to-day, or for some ceremonies.
As far as I'm concerned the Supreme Court got it wrong--there should be no such offense as indecent exposure. Your right to wear offensive attire exceeds someone else's right to not be offended by your attire. We follow that in all cases except nudity.
Indecent exposure refers to exposing body parts or that are not generally accepted in public, or doing something sexual with said body parts.
It’s not about offensive attires.
That's not what indecent exposure means.
"Proponents say police and prosecutors will respect health concerns, use “discretion” in enforcement"
That's not how laws work. Either the law explicitly permits wearing masks for health reasons, or it's OK to arrest and prosecute people for wearing masks for that reason. Cops aren't judges.
So then what are they fighting against? People wearing masks for no reason? How is this an issue?
They want to make it illegal to wear a mask while protesting, without explicitly stating that. a lot of protesters wear masks to protect themselves from doxxing and this law would incentivize people to stay home out of fear for their safety.
That’ll annoy the “proud” boys and neo Nazis who hate showing their faces
They'll be exempt from the law.
Hard to arrest themselves.
Some of those that work forces...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I read that they expect police to use "common sense enforcement" meaning to only apply it to people who are wearing masks for illicit purposes. But reading between the lines, we all know this will just be another tool for police to harass minorities and anyone else that raises their ire with selective enforcement.
Who’s gonna arrest them, the cops are busy that day
No way they’ll arrest themselves.
Klub masks will probably be ignored by the police. I mean why harass your fellow klansmen?
Haha, that’s funny
The police will have discretion whether to enforce the law. That's the response from a proponent politician quiet in the article.
Why would the cops arrest themselves?
Cops are allowed to wear masks
You can request for an exemption during event.
You aren’t from NC clearly, no it won’t. You think they care?
The little pieces of fabric defeated the smooth brained snowflakes so badly that they made a law about it?
Right? It has been 4 years. Let it go already!
Holy shit 4 YEARS?!?! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?!
There has to be a word or phrase that goes beyond "astronomically unfuckingbelievably stupid" to describe these people.
IANAL but I imagine that it is unlikely to survive a 1st Amendment legal challenge.
“Conservative Republicans” covers it.
Ah, concise and accurate.... I like it.
It's called evil.
What about health care providers? Does this mean I get to see everyone's faces at my next surgery?
Only if they perform your surgery in public.
So technically it’s only a crime to wear a mask walking down the street or at a park or government building?
No, there’s a carveout to the law that allows masks if worn as part of your trade/occupation. That’s been the case since these anti-mask laws were passed decades ago.
Goofy fucking state.
Now there's a cursed disney image I didn't need
Gorsh, a police state!
Looks like I'm getting waterboarded tonight! Ah hyuck hyuck hyuck
Does this mean no kids masks at Halloween? Did no one think this through?
Halloween will officially be known as The Purge, when all crime is permitted for one night only.
This law prohibits the free exercise of religion. The Bible commanded that a veil be worn over the lips of those with contagious disease. Clearly these hypocrites don't know how to read; only hate.
What possible good can this do?
They were trying to say the actual target here were protesters and/or criminals using masks to conceal their identity while committing a crime (riots, etc). Feels to me like they handily created a way to identify "woke" folks willing to mask up that they want to slap with a felony so they can't vote anymore.
Wearing a mask is worthy of a felony, absolute clown world.
Make more videos of cops beating citizens for no real reason for YouTube proving they are tyrants?
Reduce the “R” voting population?
I wish we could get a refund on our taxes that went to pay state and federal legislators for proposing and debating laws that are on their face unconstitutional and will end up being overturned in court the day they go into effect.
You'd be surprised how many anti-mask laws there are. There's about 15 states with it, and they've had them for decades. The biggest successful attacks on them only came when they show the masks are necessary to prevent reprisal by third parties.
Fucking facists operating under thguise of reducing crime.
Don’t worry, it’s probably legal to wear guns on your face.
One could take a shot at that
Isn't this like unquestionably a first amendment violation? Like not that North Carolina is well known for a love of Muslims but like this seems... beyond clearly a violation
Love to see that small government in action.
A political stunt that denies solid medical knowledge. So stupid.
I'm assuming this will be vetoed when it gets to the governor
The land of the free
Cool. All surgery for those that support it is done without masks or washing of hands.
Probably very little enforcement if you are part of any White Supremacist organization. Protestors on campuses against genocide and ethnic cleansing? Sick people who are decent human beings who don’t want to spread their germs? Yeah they’ll arrest them.
Exactly. This cries out as a law to be enforced against those the police don't like.
Painted face shields it is then.
Giving police discretion not to arrest and prosecutors not to prosecute when the law says it's illegal seems like the law is liable to be used against the poor and minorities who tend to get the short end of the stick with law enforcement. Why not allow exceptions for medical reasons when it's obviously a good reason to wear a mask.
Praise be to Nurgle!
Wtf
F**king morons. Why can't natural selection take its course already?
Guess which state is never getting another penny of mine.
The Hurricane's goalie is in for a tough season.
Halloween is gonna suck for kids in NC this year, I guess.
Halloween is gonna blow in NC.
Even when Rey Mysterio is there?
Luchas are and have always been grossly underrepresented in NC politics.
And that’s why the deep south sucks
So the people who bitched all about masks being "forced" onto them are now forcing people to NOT wear masks that violates personal freedom. What a bunch of hypocrites.
So, I just completed cancer treatment. My doctor insists I wear a mask in public because my immune system is extremely weak. I guess I could die from exposure to possible infection OR go to jail. Unbelievable!!!
I think I'd continue to wear a mask in public.
It’s also free expression: A form of speech, even of protest: “I don’t trust this environment, because strangers around me, who are encouraged to not be vaccinated, may carry bacteria or viruses that could harm me, so I peaceably wear protection.”
I love that these small government states keep passing laws against everything they don't like and forcing everyone to give up their freedom to accommodate their tantrums.
What about masks if you work around harmful fumes or particulates? You ain’t wearing them for a fashion statement in these cases. Nay, it’s for your health.
I'm wearing mine for religious purposes.
Proponents say police and prosecutors will respect health concerns, use “discretion” in enforcement
I think what they meant to say was "illegal when convenient"
It’s political theater that will be vetoed by the Governor.
How does this timeline keep getting even dumber?
Is it just masks or do hoods count as well? /s or not
NC Jail Warden: "Why do we suddenly have so many depressed inmates?"
Can someone send the memo to the fire department?
What do they consider public?
Darwin will take care of those Republicans during the next bad flu season. Stupidity is not a survival adaptation.
And people wonder why conservatives are considered crazy
Funny enough we got covid the first time from a stop in NC. And we wore masks
There were multiple states which had varying forms of "face coverings laws", all of which were still on the books prior to and during COVID. In some jurisdictions, for a short time, it was simultaneously illegal and required to wear a face mask in public. Previous case law (including that established during COVID) confirms that it is totally within state power to compel or prohibit face coverings under the guise of public safety.
So much freedom.
I lived in NC during Jesse Helms. He would have loved this and probably would have worn a white hood to rub it in.
So much for limited government.
These guys aren’t even trying to hide their blatant hypocrisy.
21st century gerrymandering. They don't want you in their state if you don't vote like them, if you don't think like them, if you don't look like them.
Why? They're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.
Hey, uh, isn’t this the party that uses sharia law as a boogeyman? Now they’re making whether or not you’re wearing a particle article a punishable offense, equally as draconian as places like Iran
when it's their book of archaic myths and legends, it's all cool.
This one won't last long
No way in hell that doesn't violate the 1st Amendment
Ah yes land of the free
Tyranny
Creating more drama so their little voting base cheers. Sickening. Vote them out.
Next time I have the flu I’ll drive down to NC and hang out at the NC Capitol cafeteria, coughing, hacking and shivering… breathe in my FREEDOM!
lol there’s still a pandemic. This is so they can arrest protesters for wearing masks
Imagine being that fucking stupid
why are the stupidest bills being passed instead of being laughed out the room
Better question is why are these passed so easily while ones that can actually be useful get stonewalled.
We have real fucking problems and these idiots are out fighting their dumbass culture wars. Fuck, people really suck.
Ahhhh... Freedom, to be american is so great lately ugh.
Can carry and wave around a gun if we want, but wearing a surgical mask to not get sick... illegal lol
Setting the end goal is to prohibit left/leaning voters from showing up to the polls in November wearing masks for health safety. So Conservatives can use law enforcement to tell masked voters they're in violation of the law and either remove it at the polls, go home, or be arrested.
Conservatives are the absolute stupidest humans ever.
Do they have enough votes to override Cooper’s veto? I think the chances of him signing this into law are slim to none.
Stupid people doing stupid things.
More Republican nuttiness.
The culture wars have so thoroughly rotted this country’s collective consciousness holy shit
T-minus how long before this gets thrown out....
Do facemasks in the winter count? This shit wouldn't fly in New England lol
That means police who cover their face are breaking the law. How do we sue them for this?
Will I get a ticket for wearing a Trump mask or will the cops look the other way
This is the stupidest thing I have heard in a while.
Behold brothers, rights and freedoms!/s
More crimes against humanity they will get away with. Shame. It sucks that a lot of people have to die for the rest to care and do something about it
Land of the free!
We are heading towards fascism
What about folks with compromised immune systems? State gonna hand out mask permits?
Surely approving bills that flagrantly violate laws and rights should just result in criminal charges on the people proposing and approving these bills.
Who passes this nonsense
And Republican voters still support the party because of stupidity to see things like this for what they are. What about transplant patients? Who cares!! As long as I get to laugh and “own the libs” Fake Christians are the worst.
Remember when laws were made to protect people and their liberties? That seems like a long time ago.
Hide your books, they will want to burn hen all soon.
Is this legal? This also has to be an ADA violation