A Long Island county signs a new ban on facemasks to counter criminal activity

Officials for a Long Island county in New York have instituted a new ban on facial masks meant to keep people from hiding their identities.

The new measure bans the wearing of facemasks in public except for "health, safety, religious or cultural purposes." Officials in Nassau County, which covers a stretch of New York's Long Island, said the rule was meant to counter criminal activity, including "antisemitic incidents" that have taken place since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

"This is a broad public safety measure," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at a news conference. "What we've seen is people using masks to shoplift, to carjack, to rob banks, and this is activity we want to stop."

The law punishes violations with up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

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Civil liberties advocates warn the ban infringes on First Amendment rights and could lead to inequitable policing if officers enforce the law unevenly.

The rule would let police "who are not medical or religious experts, but who do have a track record of racially-biased enforcement — to determine who needs a mask and who doesn’t, and who goes to jail," said Susan Gottehrer, regional director of the New York Civil Liberties Union for Nassau.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had considered a similar ban on face masks in the New York subway system to counter antisemitic incidents. Hochul said at the time that ban would have also had exceptions for health and cultural reasons.