A NY State Supreme Court judge issued a ruling Monday evening that Governor Kathy Hochul’s mask mandate in public places, imposed in mid-December, is unconstitutional. Judge Thomas Rademaker wrote that Hochul doesn’t have the authority to impose such a mandate, and that mask mandates would have to be debated and approved by the state legislature to be constitutional. The NY Legislature passed the Administrative Procedure Act in March in response to disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s pandemic measures, which Judge Rademaker now say causes Hochul’s mask mandate to be null and void. In a statement following the ruling, Governor Hochul said she will explore all avenues to have the ruling reversed. “My responsibility as Governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and save lives,” she said. “We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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