Appellate Judge Grants Stay to Reinstate New York Mask Mandate During Legal Process

A New York state appellate judge granted a stay to reinstate Governor Hochul’s statewide mask mandate Tuesday afternoon.

The order, from Justice Robert J. Miller of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, came as the Hochul administration filed an appeal to a Nassau County judge’s ruling to strike down the mandate. 

After Judge Thomas Rademaker ruled the state Department of Health overstepped its authority, Hochul vowed to “reverse this immediately.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion to stay the ruling and put it on hold while the state filed a formal appeal.

So, the immoral and anti-science mandate to muzzle children for 6-8 hours per day in school remains in effect for now.  

JUST IN 🚨 New York Mask Mandate Back in Effect After Appellate Judge Grants Stay

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 25, 2022

Judge Grants a Stay in an Appeal Over the New York State Mask Mandate https://t.co/KZEtbt5at4

— Ben Owen🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@hrkbenowen) January 25, 2022

New York’s mask mandate will remain in effect after an appeals court judge temporarily blocked a lower-court ruling that had struck it down. https://t.co/suSUHLk062

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 25, 2022

Newsmax reported:

James said on Twitter: “A judge has granted our motion to keep New York’s mask mandate in place while our appeal process continues.

“Protecting the health of New Yorkers during the #COVID19 pandemic is our top priority.”

The Background

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., renewed the state’s mask mandate at all indoor public places last December due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, saying at the time that it would last for one month. The New York Health Department later extended the requirement through the end of January.

However, State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademaker wrote in a decision Monday that the governor and the state’s health officials lacked the proper authority to instate the rule without first getting approval from New York legislators.

James announced on Twitter the day after the ruling: “We’re appealing last night’s decision that struck down the mask mandate in New York. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect New Yorkers from #COVID19.”

A judge has granted our motion to keep New York's mask mandate in place while our appeal process continues.
 
Protecting the health of New Yorkers during the #COVID19 pandemic is our top priority. https://t.co/MVwlzzNPlQ

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 25, 2022

Law.com added:

Earlier in the day, Miller questioned the state’s position on appeal and highlighted the issue at the heart of the state’s appeal.

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“I mean, the judge below essentially concluded that you were making law, rather than rules, and that this is a big, controversial issue, and when we have controversial issues, they’re best left for the Legislature,” Miller said.

Assistant Solicitor General Judith Vale responded that the Department of Health was acting within its “core statutory authority” under New York’s Public Health Law and had “appropriately reacted” to the threat of COVID-19.

Plaintiffs in the case, however, have said that the governor’s office lacked support for its claims of broad authority and had acted with “no check or balance whatsoever.”

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 24 by parents of school-aged children who claimed that the mandate was improperly promulgated as an “emergency” measure, absent a declaration of an actual state of emergency at the time it went into effect.

The plaintiffs also argued that the rate of infection among children was low, and that parents should be able to make their own decisions for children about masking.

I want to remind New Yorkers that you also have the option to not comply with illegal mandates.