NNew York state’s Assau County enacted a face mask ban on Wednesday, the first of its kind in the country following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new ban makes It is a crime for anyone to wear a mask or face covering to hide their identity, except for health or religious reasons. Violating the new law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
The Mask Transparency Act was passed earlier this month by the Republican-controlled Nassau County Legislature on Long Island and was signed into law by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. All 12 Republicans in the legislature voted in favor of the ban, while all seven Democrats abstained. Lawmakers cited protests over the Israel-Gaza war as the reason for the new measure.
The ban comes two months after New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was considering banning face masks for riders using the New York City subway system. During a news conference in June, Hochul said she was investigating the mask ban after “a group wearing masks took control of a subway car, scaring passengers and chanting things about Hitler and exterminating Jews.”
“We will not tolerate individuals wearing masks to escape [responsibility] for criminal or threatening behavior,” Hochul said during the press conference.
The new law has already provoked resistance. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) criticized Nassau County’s ban in a press release, arguing that the law shows a prioritization of “a culture war over protecting people’s rights and well-being.” [Blakeman’s] residents themselves”
“Law enforcement should support New Yorkers’ right to express their views, not encourage widespread doxxing and threats of arrest,” said Susan Gottehrer, NYCLU Nassau County Regional Director. “Masks also protect people’s health, especially at a time of rising COVID rates, and allow people at high risk to participate in public life.”
New York State Senator Iwen Chu posted a statement about X last week, arguing that the legislation “could lead to anti-Asian hatred and discrimination” because mask-wearing is “common practice in many Asian cultures.”
The law exempts people who wear masks for health, safety and religious purposes or “peaceful celebration.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the normalization of wearing masks in public to protect against infection, Hochul is not the only leader who has called for potential mask bans or harsher sanctions for protesters who wear masks.
In June, North Carolina passed a mask restriction, which allows people to wear medical or surgical masks in public to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, but officials and property owners may ask people to remove those masks to check your identity. The measure also increases the punishment for crimes committed while wearing a mask.
There is a long history of mask bans in the United States, especially in the 1940s and 1950s, when members of the Ku Klux Klan wore face coverings to hide their identity. Mask bans were used to secure protesters in the past, but as protests against the Israel-Gaza war intensified this year, state employees and university administrations dusted off some of those laws to dissuade protesters from wearing masks.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
