NYC can ban KKK's hoods at marchThe Associated Press
NEW YORK - The city succeed ed in unmasking the Ku Klux Klan for a weekend rally when a federal appeals court ruled that it could re fuse to permit the event if partici pants insisted on wearing their masks.
Yesterday's ruling would not stop the KKK, which planned to go ahead with today's rally without masks, said Arthur Eisenberg, a lawyer for the New York Civil LibUnion.
City officials had agreed to allow the rally only if Klan members went without their traditional hooded white masks.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the city, saying it is enforcing a law, not discriminating against the group's message.
The NYCLU sued the city on behalf of the Church of the American Knights - a branch of the KKK
accusing the city of violating the group's First Amendment rights.
Norman Siegel, executive director of the civil liberties group, said he was preparing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He called yesterday's ruling a "momentary setback for the First Amendment," which he said should protect even anonymous, hateful speech.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani declared the decision a "victory for decency."
Yesterday's ruling came one day after two federal judges ruled in favor of allpwing masks to protect KKK members who claimed to have been attacked and their homes burned. The masks were not being used solely to strike fear into others but also to protect those speaking out, the judges said.
The city cited an 1845 law that bars people from congregating in masks or disguises except for authorized events, such as masquerades.