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Geneva, NY, United States / Finger Lakes Daily News Lucas Day Jan 24, 2022 | 7:11 PM
The New York State Supreme Court on Monday struck down the Hochul Administration’s statewide mask mandate as unconstitutional and a violation of state law.
Judge Thomas Rademaker of Nassau County wrote in his decision Monday the Governor does not have the authority to impose the mandate and the state legislature would have to debate and approve laws requiring masks in schools and other places.
Last month, Governor Kathy Hochul enacted the mandate amid an increase in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.
Monday night, Governor Hochul released the following statement regarding the ruling:
“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. We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.”
Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), who has been named the presumptive nominee for Governor of New York by both the New York Republican and Conservative Parties, issued this statement:
“We did it! A New York State Supreme Court Judge just ruled the Hochul Administration’s statewide mask mandate as unconstitutional and a violation of New York State law. Honored to have fought side by side with small business owners, parents, elected officials like Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and so many others in fighting for common sense, freedom, and the full science as opposed to just partial science.
“Just yesterday, I heard a taxpayer funded Public Service Announcement featuring a medical expert telling the public that the CDC no longer recommends the use of cloth masks. However, Governor Kathy Hochul has continued to force New York children as young as 2-years-old to be masked up all day long two years into a pandemic that has harmed kids physically, developmentally, mentally and emotionally. Enough, and it’s not just in our schools. The overreach of this statewide mask mandate that relies on partial science rather than all of it has been very widely and adversely felt throughout New York.
“While Hochul refers to New Yorkers as her ‘apostles’ and compares having to wear a mask all day long to wearing sneakers, the fact is that New Yorkers know best, despite the Governor’s ‘Hochul knows best’ arrogance.”
