Federal lawsuit challenges mask ban in suburban New York county, claims law is discriminatory

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A disability rights organization is challenging a suburban New York ban on wearing masks in public except for health and religious reasons. They argue in the class action lawsuit that it is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities. Filed by Disability Rights of New York on behalf of people with disabilities, the lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop the enforcement of Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act. When the county’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the ban on face coverings, legislator Howard Kopel said lawmakers were responding to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.