A measure setting boundaries for demonstrations at places of religious worship in Suffolk County has been tabled while a lawsuit challenging a nearly identical measure in Nassau County proceeds.
Suffolk Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, a Centerport Republican and sponsor of the bill with Legislator Nick Caracappa, a Conservative from Selden, explained last week that the tabling is occurring while “we’re awaiting” the results of the Nassau County lawsuit.
The New York Civil Liberties Union is challenging the law passed in Nassau.
Meanwhile, comparable bills have been introduced in the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Council has passed a measure. Also, there’s a federal bill being co-sponsored by U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi of Glen Cove, whose district includes northwestern Suffolk.
All the measures stem from a large and, as was reported, boisterous pro-Palestinian protest that took place last November outside the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, with protesters chanting, coverage of it related, “Globalize the intifada,” “We don’t want Zionists here” and “Death to the IDF.” It took place while the organization Nefesh B’Nefesh was holding a workshop inside the synagogue about immigration to Israel.
The Suffolk legislation is titled “A Local Law to Prohibit Demonstrations Within Ten Feet of Another Person Entering or Leaving a Place of Religious Worship and Not Within Thirty-five Feet of an Entrance.”
Both it and the Nassau measure declare: “This Legislature hereby finds and determines that individuals have a constitutional right to practice their religion and to safely travel to and from religious institutions without physical obstruction, interference, intimidation or risk of injury.”
They continue “that public safety and the right to religious freedom are threatened when demonstrators enter or remain in close proximity to those that are attempting to enter or leave places of worship.”
“Therefore,” each says, “the purpose of this local law is to protect public safety and the right to religious freedom by ensuring that demonstrators exercising their right to free speech be prohibited from demonstrating within thirty-five feet of the entrance area or driveway of a place of religious worship and from approaching within a ten-foot distance of persons entering or leaving a place of religious worship before, during and after services.”
Both define a “place of worship” as including “any church, synagogue, mosque, temple.”
A violation would be a misdemeanor with penalties of “a fine of not more than two hundred and fifty dollars or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both.”
The Nassau measure is titled “Religious Safety Act” and was unanimously passed by the Nassau County Legislature in January. It was introduced by Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip, a Republican from Great Neck who, as a Jew from Ethiopia, first immigrated to Israel and subsequently came to the United States in 2005.
It was signed into law by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican and current GOP candidate for governor.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, also a Republican, has said he would sign the Suffolk measure.
Citing two Nassau County residents as plaintiffs, the New York Civil Liberties Union, an affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
It begins: “Nassau County has enacted a ban on almost all speech, assembly, and expressive conduct outside of nearly 1,000 houses of worship without any record of violence or criminal activity within the county to justify such a sweeping restriction on First Amendment protected activity.”
“The Nassau Buffer Law,” it says, “strikes at the heart of New Yorkers’ right to express their views—no matter how controversial—in public, including leafleting and peaceful political protest on public sidewalks.”
“Further, the law does nothing to protect religious freedom, as existing federal and state laws already protect worshippers from obstruction, intimidation, interference, violence, and threats of force when entering and leaving houses of worship.”
“Instead,” it continues, “the Nassau Buffer Law has stifled speech, assembly, and expressive conduct across Nassau County, as individuals and organizations fear arrest and jail time for exercising their First Amendment rights, including passing out leaflets or marching past a house of worship.”
In regard to one plaintiff, Claudia Borecky from Merrick, whose “activism is motivated in part by her faith as a Catholic” and who “believes welcoming immigrants and opposing mass deportation is consistent with Christian teachings,” the lawsuit says she “intended to approach worshippers” at nine Catholic churches in Nassau. “However, after the passage of the Nassau Buffer Law,” because of “fear of arrest, criminal prosecution, jail time, and/or fines under the law,” she “cancelled the leafleting action.”
The New York City law was passed in March. The vote was 44-to-5 and thus veto-proof. The measure, whose primary sponsor was Council Speaker Julie Menin of Manhattan, a Democrat and daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, requires that the city’s police commissioner “establish a plan to address and contain the risk of physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation, and interference at places of religious worship.” A companion measure on protests at schools passed by a 30-to-19 vote and was vetoed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat. It was his first veto as mayor.
On the state level, Senator Sam Sutton of Brooklyn and Assemblyman Micah Lasher of Manhattan, both Democrats, are sponsoring legislation to create a 25-foot buffer zone around places of worship to, it says, “protect New Yorkers from harassment and intimidation.” A statement they issued said the “legislation balances the critical constitutional protections of speech and religion.” The office of Senator Sutton said last week the measure is “active.”
Representative Suozzi is a co-sponsor with Representative Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, of a federal bill on the matter. In a presentation last month at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove, he said: “This law was crafted in a way to try and pass constitutional muster, protecting free speech but also protecting the freedom of religion and the right to worship.” The measure is titled “Safeguarding Access to Congregations and Religious Establishments from Disruption.”
Now, with the NYCLU lawsuit challenging the Nassau County law, it is up to a federal court to become involved in the issue.