We’re Suing to Stop an Anti-Protest ‘Buffer Zone’ Law on Long Island

Lawmakers across the state are rushing to create no-speech zones that outlaw protest around places of worship. But nowhere is that effort more extreme than in Long Island’s Nassau County.

Nassau County has enacted a ban on almost all speech, assembly, and expressive conduct outside nearly 1,000 places of worship, despite the County having seen no violence or crime that could justify such a sweeping restriction on First Amendment-protected activity. The County legislature passed the measure in response to a demonstration held outside a Manhattan synagogue protesting the illegal sale of Palestinian land.

The “Religious Safety Act,” or Nassau Buffer Law, approved by legislators last December and signed by County Executive Bruce Blakeman this January, prohibits constitutionally protected speech and expressive conduct within 35 feet of places of worship one hour before, during, and one hour after a service, meeting, or other event. During these times and within 100 feet of a place of worship, the law also prohibits coming within ten feet of another person, without their express consent, for the purpose of engaging in First Amendment activity.

Nassau’s law is unconstitutional, and the NYCLU is suing the County, Blakeman, and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. Our lawsuit is the first legal challenge to so-called “buffer zones” outside of places of worship in New York.

How Nassau’s Law Violates Residents’ Rights

The law’s draconian restrictions mean that Claudia Borecky and Mariateresa Thiery – two immigrant rights advocates and our plaintiffs in the lawsuit – could be arrested by police for handing out copies of a New York Catholic Bishops’ Statement to fellow churchgoers and conversing with parishioners about their shared faith and immigrants’ rights. Indeed, Borecky cancelled her plans to do just that when she heard the law had passed.

But expressive activity doesn’t even need to be connected to one of Nassau County’s places of worship. The law could punish any demonstrators who find themselves nearby.

Anti-Speech Zones Are Unnecessary

Proponents of the Nassau Buffer Law and others claim that such measures are necessary to protect worshippers and confront a rise in antisemitism.

Let’s be clear: Religious freedom is essential, and the NYCLU has long fought to safeguard it. But New Yorkers’ right to speak passionately about issues of great political importance is no less vital than the right to religious exercise.

New York already has robust, long-standing laws that protect people’s right to access places of worship. It is a crime to intentionally interfere with another person’s exercise of religion at a place of worship under the state’s Penal Code, which further imposes special penalties on those who physically obstruct someone else’s religious practice. New York’s Penal Code also protects every New Yorker from harassment, menacing, assault, or battery wherever they are, including when entering or leaving a place of worship.

Local and State Anti-Protest Laws Abound

Nassau is not the only place in New York where lawmakers have tried to advance no-speech zones. In nearby Suffolk County, lawmakers are advancing identical legislation.

On March 26, the New York City Council passed two bills instructing the NYPD to come up with plans for security perimeters restricting protest outside places of worship and educational institutions. The Council passed the bill having to do with places of worship with a veto-proof majority.

On April 24, Mayor Mamdani allowed the places of worship bill to become law, but he rightly vetoed the legislation regarding educational institutions.

At the state level, Gov. Hochul and some state lawmakers are calling for 25-foot anti-protest zones around the state’s 17,000 places of worship as well as reproductive health clinics.

This bill could outlaw protest on thousands of blocks – and even whole neighborhoods – across all of New York.

Claudia, Mariateresa, and every other New Yorker who wants to exercise their rights should not have their voices silenced by these sweeping, unnecessary, and illegal restrictions on speech. Our lawsuit in Nassau County puts lawmakers across the state on notice that these anti-speech zones have no place in New York.