What Are Your Rights: Mask Bans and Free Speech

Man: The following segment is sponsored by Harding-Mazotti.

Interviewer: A mask ban has now been passed in Nassau County. Its supporters say that it’s meant to prevent anyone engaged in theft or other hateful actions from going unidentified, but its critics say it violates free speech. The measure is soon expected to be signed into law, but we should also expect some legal challenges along the way. So, here to explain the bill and what rights business owners have regarding masks is the managing partner Paul Harding from the law firm of Harding and Mazotti, as always, thank you for joining us.

Att. Harding: Good to be here.

Interviewer: So, let’s just start in. What is included in this bill when it comes to masks?

Att. Harding: Yeah. That if you are 16 or over and you’re in any public place in Nassau County, you cannot wear a mask. And it could be an alley, it could be a park, it could be a sidewalk, but there’s an exception. And that exception is that if you’re doing it for health or religious reasons, then you can wear a mask. But the real teeth of this is that the police now have the ability to a traffic stop or if they suspect criminal activity, to tell you to take that mask off regardless of whether you have an exception or not.

Interviewer: Interesting. And so we’ve already kind of touched on it. Why are supporters in favor of this and this new law?

Att. Harding: Well, you know, because they think that, you know, people, if someone’s going to do something bad, they got a jump on you. You know, several years ago, if you walked into a store with a mask, you caused some people to go, wow, trouble’s about to hit, right? Now you walk in, you can roam around with a mask, and then do something, so people think that it’s an unfair advantage to criminals. And then, of course, you’ve got the folks on the other side who are generally believing that it is a violation of rights and that you may even want to hide your identity if you are protesting something that’s not popular. You don’t want repercussions. So this is a tricky, tricky law that to your point, I think we’re going to hear more about this.

Interviewer: Yeah. And so this bill, you’ve led right into the next question perfectly is there are some issues that are most likely going to arise. What do you expect happening now?

Att. Harding: I expect lawyers to make some money because there’s going to be lawsuits, and they’re going to file the lawsuits as unconstitutional. They’re gonna file lawsuits at the religious freedoms. And so we’re going to be hearing a little bit about that, not only state courts, but I suspect federal courts.

Interviewer: And is that going to be just that much more difficult when it comes to policing? Because now you’re going to have to go case by case basis. Who’s wearing a mask for what reason, and making that in a snap decision?

Att. Harding: They now will have the ability to make a decision, right or wrong to say, “Take that mask off. I believe that there is criminal enterprise or just a traffic ticket.” So before, stopped, they had the right to not take the mask off, they couldn’t identify him, and then if they ran or if trouble hit, the police didn’t know who they were dealing with.

Interviewer: Now, what about for business owners? Do they have rights when it comes to asking people to remove a mask?

Att. Harding: Sure. You know, their number one priority is to make money and try to survive in the world of business. So they’re always careful. But if they say, “No masks.” Okay. They got to have the exception that if it’s a religious or if your, same thing wore masks, you know, but they’re going to lose the customers who are on either side of that. But yes, they can privately enforce that, as long as you’re not doing it against one particular group.

Interviewer: Very interesting. We’ll see how this all plays out.

Att. Harding: It’s gonna play out and we’re gonna hear more about this.

Interviewer: As always, Paul Harding, giving us the best advice. We appreciate it.

Att. Harding: Thank you.