By Carolyn Thompson
Associated Press
An appeals judge temporarily reinstated the mask mandate in New York on Tuesday, a day after a lower court judge ruled that the administration of New York Governor Kathy Hochul lacked the constitutional authority to order the people wear masks.
Judge Robert Miller in New York granted the state's request to stay a Long Island judge's ruling while the governor's administration files an appeal.
Miller gave no opinion
on the legality of the mandate
.
The suspension came after a day of confusion, in which some New York school districts — especially in Republican-leaning areas — rushed to make masks optional for students and teachers, and state education officials they told administrators that they should continue to implement the mandate.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office would continue to defend the mandate in court.
"Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that
wearing a mask saves lives
. This mandate and today's decision are critical to help stop the spread of this virus and protect people young and old," James said.
At issue is the legality of an order the state health commissioner issued in mid-December as the omicron variant fueled a huge wave of COVID-19 infections in the state.
The order required the use of masks in schools, health centers, homeless shelters, prisons, public transportation and any indoor public area where vaccination was not required to enter.
At the moment, the state mandate will only
be in effect until February 1.
Confusion between schools and parents
Judge Thomas Rademaker, who ruled Monday in a case brought by a group of parents, said the state governor and health commissioner had no authority to issue the mandate without legislative approval.
White Plains High School students walk between classes in White Plains, New York, on April 22, 2021.Mark Lennihan/AP
The mandate "is a law that was illegally enacted and enacted by a state executive branch agency, and is therefore null and void," Rademaker said.
As
school districts waited for legal issues to be resolved
, parents received conflicting instructions, depending on where they lived.
In the Massapequa school district on Long Island, administrators immediately made wearing masks optional.
"While this decision is sure to face legal challenges, until otherwise litigated, mask wearing will become optional for students and staff in Massapequa schools beginning Tuesday," the Massapequa school district said. , in the New York suburbs of Long Island, on their website.
Syracuse city schools were among those that adhered to the state guidelines.
"That means anyone entering any of our schools
must continue to wear a mask
," a notice on the district's website read.
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New York City also maintained its mask rule, which predated the state order.
In Westchester County, Mamaroneck Superintendent Robert Shaps made mask wearing optional.
Republican MP Elise Stefanik criticized Hochul for "ignoring" the lower court's ruling.
She told parents in her upstate New York congressional district to call her office if her children were not allowed to go to school without a mask.
"Masks are not mandatory for students, period. Yet Kathy Hochul continues to try to force young children to wear them to school, in shameful disregard of the rule of law," Stefanik said in a press release issued before for the appellate court to act.
Own rules on the use of masks
Nothing in the Rademaker ruling prevented school districts from adopting mask rules on their own.
State Attorney Judith Vale said Tuesday that leaving Rademaker's sentence in effect
would endanger people's health.
A medical worker tests an N95 mask on a worker at a health center in Massachusetts.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
"The order, if not lifted, will allow people to refuse to wear face coverings in closed public places where the risk of spreading COVID-19 is high, including schools where many children remain unvaccinated against COVID-19. 19," the state said in its court filing.
Attorney Chad Laveglia, who filed the challenge on behalf of a group of parents, promised to take it "as far as it takes."
"The judge was dead wrong," Laveglia said of Miller's decision to put Rademaker's case on hold until the appellate court has a chance to hear more detailed arguments.
Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt criticized Hochul for relying on mandates, saying he should
send a bill to the Legislature for debate
instead .
“We are two years into this pandemic and it is absurd that this administration continues to govern with mandates that continue to cause confusion, frustration and division among New Yorkers,” Ortt said.
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The legal battle comes as the wave of the omicron variant that has gripped New York state appears to be abating:
The state averaged just under 22,000 new cases of the virus a day
in the seven-day period that ended. this Monday.
This is down from the 74,600 daily cases that occurred during the peak of the wave in early January.
Hospitalizations are also
on the decline, down 17% statewide in the past seven days.
Andy Pallotta, president of the New York State United Teachers group, cited current public health guidance that
favors the use of masks at a time of high infection rates.
"In the meantime, we hope that state health authorities will establish a clear exit ramp for when mask requirements in schools can be relaxed," Pallotta said, "so that students, families and educators have
some certainty that that there is light at the end of this long tunnel
.
