A New York Appellate Judge granted a stay in the state’s lawsuit over the COVID-19 face mask mandate, meaning it remains in place while case is appealed — and schools must enforce it.
- Judge Thomas Rademaker of New York State Supreme Court on Long Island struck down the state’s mask mandate on Monday
- He said the governor overstepped her authority in imposing a rule that needed to have been passed by the state legislature
- Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vowed to fight back against the ruling
A New York judge has struck down the state’s mask mandate one week before it was due to expire, ruling the governor did not have authority to impose the rule without approval from the state legislature.
The mandate was reintroduced by Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2021, but state legislators had ruled in March that New York was no longer under a state of emergency, limiting her and the health commissioner’s powers.
This meant the new measures forcing New Yorkers to wear masks in all indoor spaces, which carried fines of up to $1,000 for those who did not comply, were unenforceable and are now void, Judge Thomas Rademaker has ruled.
It was latest setback for executive branch officials at state and federal levels after much legal wrangling over the issue of mask mandates in different states.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court also blocked President Joe Biden’s vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses.
A judge in Texas last week ruled that Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated.
Hochul, a Democrat, vowed to fight back, saying in a statement: ‘We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.’
‘My responsibility as Governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and save lives,’ Hochul said.
She reintroduced the mandate in December amid a surge in Covid cases, forcing residents to wear a mask in indoor public spaces unless business have their own vaccine requirement.
The requirements in New York state, home to around 20 million people, include wearing masks in schools, on public transit and other public indoor spaces.
When Hochul imposed the rule on December 31, she called it temporary. She later extended the original expiration date of January 15 until February 1, with those not obeying risking fines and civil and criminal penalties.
Excerpt from Daily News:
Gov. Hochul called on New Yorkers to continue covering their faces Tuesday as the state appealed a court ruling striking down the state’s COVID mask mandate, sparking confusion among schools and businesses.
The state was granted a stay by Appellate Court Judge Robert Miller, keeping Hochul’s mask mandate in place while the appeal process continues.
“I’m encouraging parents and students to continue doing what they’re doing because the last thing I want to see is a different trend because people gave up on the masks,” Hochul said at an event in Syracuse.
In a statement following the stay order, the governor applauded Miller for “siding with common sense and granting an interim stay to keep the state’s important masking regulations in place.”
The governor said she expects the case to be settled shortly and stood by her belief that the Department of Health has the authority to require workers, shoppers and school kids to wear masks indoors.
Earlier, lawyers for the state faced off against attorneys representing Long Island parents challenging the mandate a day after a Nassau judge deemed it unconstitutional.
Daily News: https://news.yahoo.com/hochul-says-mask-judge-grants-005700985.html