Article from For Liberty by Norm Leahy.
U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe ruled New York state authorities could not enforce a 25 percent capacity cap on indoor religious services “when other types of gatherings are limited to 50%.”
Sharpe, a George W. Bush appointee, said the different rules “result in the curtailment of fundamental rights without compelling justification.”
Sharpe also took both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio to task for their conflicting stances on restrictions for large crowds:
Sharpe also pointed to comments from Cuomo in which he publicly expressed support for the protests. De Blasio has made similar comments too.
Cuomo and de Blasio, high-profile leaders in the state, could have just discouraged the protests by citing public health and stopped short of condemning their message, Sharpe wrote.
Instead of encouraging a “flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules,” the leaders could have used discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety, he wrote.
“They could have also been silent. But by acting as they did, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message that mass protests are deserving of preferential treatment,” Sharpe wrote.
New York has permitted in-person graduation ceremonies too, if they are outdoors and have no more than 150 people, something that’s an exception from limits on outdoor gatherings, according to the ruling.
State and local officials have not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.
Image Credit: Delta News Hub / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe is my kind of man. Much respect to him for his ruling. Cuomo and DeBlasio seem to think they rule the world. News for you two; you don’t. To flagrantly enforce capacity rules for churches, yet allow other larger social gatherings to occur is obviously unfair and preferential. Thank you, Judge Sharpe.
Really nice to see that not all judges have been BOUGHT OFF.
I’m so grateful to the judge Gary L. Sharpe for helping the people of New York City. Many of us feel helpless because we do not have access to the bias liberal Marxist media like the Democrats have. I don’t care what anyone thinks, I know that “All Lives Matter,” and that we should support the police!
I have not heard any one say that the spike in the Covid-19 virus in different states could also be due to all the protesting that occurred during the Mr Floyd protests. I notice a lot of the protesters NOT practicing social distancing AND not wearing masks. Just something to think about
DUH!!!!
I think this whole spike is caused by “Black People PROTESTING”!!!!!
And lets blame the Dumocrates for starting this farst!!!
Fornicate FREDO (cuomo)
DUH!!!!
I think this whole spike is caused by “Black People PROTESTING”!!!!!
And lets blame the Dumocrates for starting this farst!!!
I believe that Mr. Trump is leaving all Covid related regulations/proclamations/promulgations to the states.
Have you noticed that there is near zero reporting of attacks or restrictions upon the Islamic communities
Ekim, you must be nuts or demented, you certainly are no poet. Nothing you said makes any sense. Thank you Judge, you just proved how screwed up these two men are. Cuomo and de blasio are a couple of real losers…
Can’t rule out Cortez who wants billions of dollars to defund the police and the New green deal
Here’s the deal.
Police budgets are far and away the largest portion of any municipality’s budget. And, largely they are unaccountable. How can this be justified? My local sheriffs, in a community so tiny we are unincorporated and have no police force of our own, has TWO full time PARKING enforcement ossifers – and we have almost NO parking regulations!! Hell, we don’t even have sidewalks.
Just maybe, some of that fat budget could fund a clinic?
Or should we just keep arresting the insane and the drug addicted, or shooting arguing family members?
One cannot see what one will not see.
It’s no wonder Biden is so confused. The economic economy is coming back stronger, the new trade deals, the judges that are joining President Trump in issues that are important to us all. We want to return to worship. Dinner tonight many can see the lack of leadership in many liberal progressive states. Real polls know that President Trump is ahead, just like in 2016. We all know Cuomo and DeBlasio are losers and we must learn from how stupid they are. Trump 2020
We have to get rest of New Yorkers to wake up before it’s to late. This state and country will be gone
This is referred to as “projection”.
Gov HoeMoe is a total piece of Sheet our Fore-Fathers warned us about.
Yes they sure did and it’s getting worse no thanks to the media covering up for the democracts in this State. Cuomo, Deblasio, Cortez and few others need to go before this state is gone
It’s about darn time a judge in New York took a stand and told Cuomo no. This is the kind of judge I like. Cuomo has put the power to his head along with Deblasio. Wish someone would stop these two before it gets worse in New York
I too have noticed that the people that Trump has had to fire for incompetency and dishonesty all run right out and write a book condemning Trump and the fake news services can not wait to put them on TV and let them share their wisdom with you. Has anyone noticed that bartender Cortez was not making enough to pay her rent in DC when she first came to congress? One year later she was zipping around in her private jet. Anyone who can stretch a dollar that far, should be handling the national budget.
One: See my comments to you above.
Two: I see you take issue with Cortez. But, not because you fault her politics (as I do), but because she has quickly risen to a level reflecting her work ethic and intelligence. Again, it’s all about you being a failure in life, isn’t it, Larry?
Lastly, get a clue. If EVERYONE who has ever had to deal with Trump (except those few still on his payroll) claim he is a lying, greedy, self-interested, misanthropic, egomaniacal, dim-witted all-round POS…. And, every time you see him on the Tay Vay, he acts just like that, well, as prefaced, get a clue.
Eat Crap Cuomo you Commy dirt bag Anti-American.