Disability Rights Group Files Lawsuit Over County Mask Ban In New York

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the lack of a benefit from programs and services” as a result of the mask ban, and it calls for the prohibition to be rescinded.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