NY Mask Mandate Voided as an Abuse of Power, Violated the Separation of Powers. NY Heath Agency is an Unelected Body of Public Officials, Has No Authority to Enact Laws. Laws are Made by Legislature

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From [HERE] Enacting any laws to end COVID "is entrusted solely to the State Legislature," Nassau County Judge Thomas Rademaker wrote in the opinion.

  • "Should the State Legislature, representative of and voted into office by the citizens of New York, after publicly informed debate, decide to enact laws requiring face coverings in schools and other place places then the Commissioner would likely be well grounded in properly promulgated and enacted rules to supplement such laws."

  • The opinion also explained that there must always be a factual basis for emergency rulemaking by agencies. Such a basis cannot be cut and pasted to each request to renew an emergency. Here, the regulation contained no factual basis as to how the masks are necessary to the emergency (necessary to stop the spread)

A Long Island judge struck down New York state’s indoor mask mandate Monday, saying health officials needed approval from the legislature for a December rule requiring face coverings in schools, transit hubs and other indoor settings.

State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademaker ruled in Nassau County that Health Commissioner Mary Bassett didn’t have the authority to issue an emergency regulation last year requiring masks in indoor settings. Dr. Bassett’s masking rules were issued after Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency amid rising Covid-19 infections on Nov. 26.

Judge Rademaker wrote that the regulations needed to be “tailored, necessarily related, and attached to a law that the State Legislature has passed.” He struck down the regulations and barred the state from enforcing them.

In a statement, Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said the mask requirements helped curb the spread of Covid-19. “We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately,” she said.

The ruling was the latest setback dealt by the judicial branch to government-imposed Covid-19 restrictions. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month blocked federal vaccine-or-testing rules for large employers, but federal courts have allowed state and federal vaccine mandates for healthcare workers.