A disability rights group on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit against Nassau County, New York, alleging that its new ban on wearing masks in public is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Last week, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed a law making it illegal to wear masks “for the purposes of concealing an individual’s identity in public places.” Those who violate the law could face a fine of $1,000 and up to a year in jail.
The ban, which took effect immediately in the Long Island county, was a means of addressing “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to local legislator Howard Kopel.
But Thursday’s lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights New York on behalf of people with disabilities, alleges that the mask ban violates “the United States Constitution, the New York State Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.”
Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act requires state and local governments to provide disabled people with equal access to public services, programs or activities. The suit claims that people with disabilities “will experience the deprivation of equal access to or the lack of a benefit from programs and services” as a result of the mask ban, and it calls for the prohibition to be rescinded.
HuffPost reached out to Nassau County’s press office for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
The mask ban has a few exceptions, including “facial coverings worn to protect the health and safety of the wearer, for religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event.” But plaintiffs in the lawsuit said that they fear discrimination and harassment for wearing a mask due to their disabilities.
One plaintiff — identified as “G.B.” — is a resident of Nassau County who wears a medical-grade mask outside because they are at a higher risk of contracting airborne illnesses, the suit said.
“The mask ban law in Nassau County causes G.B. great stress and fear when they go out into the community,” it said. “G.B. fears that they will be arrested just for wearing a facemask for their health because there is no standard for the police to follow to decide if they meet the health exception or not.”
Another plaintiff — identified as “S.S.” — is an immunocompromised Nassau County resident who is “terrified to go into public wearing a mask since the Mask Ban was signed into law.”
Earlier this month, S.S. received an email from a legislator about the ban, which contained “an alarming image of a person wearing a medical mask and referred to him as a ‘faceless thug,’″ the suit said. “The email and the image made S.S. afraid to contact their legislator with their concerns about the Mask Ban. The email made S.S. afraid to go into public wearing a medical mask. S.S. is afraid to contact police if they are harassed for wearing a medical mask in public.”
Face masks became the norm in the U.S. after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, though states across the country have since scaled back their precautions and lifted mask mandates. But the coronavirus is still present, with recent wastewater surveillance data showing COVID-19 at its highest levels since January.
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