Oklahoma State Sen. Don Barrington (R) has nothing better to do with his time but make up laws that give cops just another reason to harass black men.
He has proposed a law that would in effect; make it a crime to wear a hoodie. The lawmaker claims it has nothing to do with hoodies but simply to deter crime.
“The intent of Senate Bill 13 is to make businesses and public places safer by ensuring that people cannot conceal their identities for the purpose of crime or harassment. ... Similar language has been in Oklahoma statutes for decades and numerous other states have similar laws in place," he said. "Oklahoma businesses want state leaders to be responsive to their safety concerns, and this is one way we can provide protection.”
However, the law is so broad that cops can use it to stop someone on the street and even arrest someone, by claiming the individual was trying to hide their identity. Gosh knows we have seen cops use lesser excuses for stopping someone on the street or in their cars, which even sometimes ends up in the death of an unarmed citizen by police shootings.
Oklahoma is a state where the Republican controlled government, along with its imperialistic governor Mary Fallen, has passed a law to make it illegal for city governments to pass their own minimum wage increase (so much for conservative non-intrusive government). Also, the state attorney general, Scott Pruitt with the state of Nebraska, is suing Colorado for its marijuana legalization and Governor Fallen has refused even to allow the expansion of Medicaid for the poor in the state through the Affordable Care Act, even though our state has one of the highest levels of very unhealthy citizens.
Yet, there is plenty of time for Republican lawmakers to pass nonsense laws to bust people for trying to cover up their heads against that heavy wind that come sweeping down the plains. My only hope is that this new effort to pass an idiotic law when there are so many more pressing problems in the state will help wake Oklahomans up to the fact that Republicans do not care about the needs of average citizens, only their wealthy friends and the campaign donations those wealthy friends give, which help keep their do-nothing-worthwhile butts in office.
This is a republish from my website: Fidlerten Place