HB168 – Prohibition on Masking

Background: HB168 amends Alabama’s loitering statute, which currently includes “being masked” while loitering, remaining, or congregating in a public place as an offense. The bill adds a new exemption allowing a person to wear a medical or surgical grade mask during a protest, demonstration, or other public assembly only if the mask is worn to comply with documented guidance from the person’s health care provider to prevent the spread of infectious disease. It also allows law enforcement to require the person to produce that documentation and requires mask removal for identification upon request by law enforcement or the property owner’s representative. Separately, the bill authorizes local school boards and institutes of higher education to adopt and enforce mask policies for protests/assemblies on their property, with violations handled through administrative discipline.

Position: ACLU of Alabama opposes HB168. While the bill creates a narrow medical masking carve-out, it still treats mask-wearing at public assemblies as presumptively criminal and conditions an exemption on producing medical documentation on demand. This intrusive, burdensome requirement will deter people (including immunocompromised Alabamians) from exercising their First Amendment rights.

The requirement that a person remove their mask for identification upon request further undermines the right to engage in protest without unnecessary government scrutiny and creates opportunities for discriminatory or retaliatory enforcement. Alabama can address unlawful conduct at protests without criminalizing protective health measures or empowering broad discretion that creates a chilling effect for speech and assembly.