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Virginia § 18.2-422 makes wearing a KKK hood or other face covering a felony, both in public, and in private unless it is with the owner's written permission.
Could someone (not mentioning any names) still be prosecuted for violating this law in the 1980s?
(Also, if it matters, the "with the intent to conceal his identity" clause was recently added. That phrase was absent in the 1980s.)
Virginia's "limitation of prosecutions" is at § 19.2-8. Section 18-2.422 provides that the offense in question is a class-6 felony. Nothing at 19.2-8 appears to apply generally to felonies nor specifically to 18.2-422.
Assuming that a person work a mask in public and violated the law, it could have been prosecuted as a class 6 felony. The statute of limitations limits prosecution in cases where the accused has not fled the state. There are specific exclusions surrounding murder and manslaughter where there is expressly no limit. Otherwise, the limit is between 1 year and 5 years, depending on the specific crime committed. There is no provision limiting prosecution for rape, robbery, or mask-wearing.
