NYCLU and Advocates Demand NY State Legislators Reject No-Speech Buffer Zones Proposals

ALBANY – Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), reproductive healthcare advocates, policing experts, and elected officials advocates rallied at the New York State Capitol, demanding city lawmakers reject all proposals to establish no-speech zones outside of every house of worship and place that offers healthcare “related to the human reproductive system” across the state.

“Every no-speech, buffer zone proposal under consideration in Albany will stifle free speech and violate New Yorkers’ rights to engage in peaceful political protest,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU. “By walling off enormous swathes of our state from any type of collective protest, these proposals could seriously impair New Yorkers’ ability to exercise their First Amendment rights and send the absolutely wrong message. At a moment when the federal government is targeting, arresting, and even killing ordinary citizens for protest, state lawmakers must stand up for New York values and defend the First Amendment — not jump on the bandwagon for a kinder, gentler version of the Trump administration’s authoritarian campaign against dissent.”

The proposals under consideration include: proposals from Gov. Hochul, as well as Sen. Sutton and Asm. Lasher, to restrict or totally prohibit protest within 25 feet of the streets and sidewalks touching a house of worship or reproductive healthcare facility; the Senate’s budget proposal to criminalize occupying, obstructing, or interfering with any entrance, exit, driveway, parking lot, public way, or sidewalk adjacent to a house of worship; and Assembly Member Alvarez’s bill to restrict protest within 100 feet of a place of religious worship.

“The rights and freedoms we hold dear are the result of decades of struggle and courageous dissent,” said Robin Chappelle Golston, President + CEO, Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts. “At a time when democratic norms are under strain and federal actions are eroding basic rights, protecting the First Amendment—the right to speak out and protest—has never been more important. While everyone deserves safe access to reproductive health care facilities and houses of worship, any policy ensuring this access must also be effective, legally durable, and respect our long-held right to free speech. The proposals we have seen fall short of that standard and should not advance.”

If any of these proposals pass, protest would be restricted or banned in large swathes of the state. That includes the nearly 17,000 churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship scattered across the state, as well as many secular buildings such as hospitals, urgent cares, fertility clinics, pharmacies, primary health facilities, airports, and many schools.

“AQE opposes Albany’s no speech buffer zone proposals because we believe they will green light the criminalization of students, activists and protestors as they exercise their right to peaceful protest,” said Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “The intent of these bills might have been to combat hate but they will not address the daily anti-Black racism and xenophobia that our communities experience. Why? Because the real perpetrators of the hate and acts of violence is White Supremacy. Once you make police officers the overseers of how New Yorkers can peacefully protest, history tells us that harm will come to Black, brown, Muslim and immigrant communities. These no speech buffer zones will make New York a place where no one is safe to exercise their freedom of speech. That’s not the New York we know, the place that prides itself on being welcoming to all.”

“The Governor’s proposal would expand police power in ways that undermine the Payne protest settlement, threaten New Yorkers’ constitutional rights and risk criminalizing people simply for showing up in their own communities,” said Amanda Jack, Policy Director in the Criminal Law Reform at The Legal Aid Society. “Giving police broad discretion to create and enforce no speech zones invites unnecessary police intervention in peaceful protests and everyday public life. We routinely see how increased police presence can lead to discriminatory enforcement, particularly against Black and Brown New Yorkers, LGBTQ+ youth, and people exercising their First Amendment rights. Instead of passing laws that undermine the hard-won reforms in the Payne protest settlement, state leadership should focus on protecting civil liberties and ensuring that all New Yorkers can safely exercise their right to speak, assemble, and advocate for their communities.”

“The proposed legislation is a direct attack on our basic First Amendment right to speak out about important workplace and community issues, with state legislation effectively preventing workers from taking collective action,” said Dr. Rohan Pinto, Regional Vice President of NY Private Hospitals, Committee of Interns and Residents-SEIU. “As union doctors, our ability to rally outside our hospitals ensures we can protect our labor rights and fight for quality patient care and health justice. We will not stand for this affront to the rights of workers and the communities we serve.”

“These buffer zone policies are a dangerous attack on constitutionally protected speech and association for all New Yorkers,” said Brad Parker, Associate Director of Policy at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “It is shameful that these are being proposed in a context where anti-Palestinian racism has resulted in constitutionally protected First Amendment activity in support of Palestinian human rights being treated as a security concern. These proposals will undoubtedly result in the criminalization of First Amendment protected protest and perpetuate constitutional violations against individuals with a disfavored viewpoint.”

Today’s action follows the New York City Council’s recent vote to force the New York Police Department (NYPD) to create plans to establish security perimeters outside of houses of worship and educational facilities as a way to clamp down on speech and protest. It also follows the NYCLU’s lawsuit against Nassau County over their unconstitutional prohibition on protest within 35 feet of the entrance to a place of worship. Lawmakers are advancing identical legislation in Suffolk County as well.

It also comes as the federal government launches increasingly aggressive attacks on protest, free speech, and dissent across the nation.

“These extreme proposals would mean jailing New Yorkers for exercising basic First Amendment rights,” said Carolyn Iodice, Legislative & Policy Director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). “This is not about violence or threats, which are already illegal. Instead, these proposals would criminalize labor rallies, parades, prayer vigils, and peaceful protests happening on public streets and sidewalks.”

“This buffer zone policy is a blatant attempt to curtail free speech of New Yorkers,” said Assemblymember Gallagher. “Some New York City blocks have so many religious institutions and hospitals that you literally wouldn’t be able to have a protest on them if this law was enacted. In a moment when our country is descending into fascism, it is deeply troubling that we would be doing anything to curtail freedom of speech and expression. I urge our leadership to reject this attempt to limit the rights and freedoms of New Yorkers.”

“Governor Hochul’s proposal threatens New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights and sets a dangerous precedent that criminalizes speech and political protest,” said Assemblymember Moreno. “At a time when rogue federal agents are already detaining New Yorkers without due process and with little regard for the law and public safety, our state must lead the way in upholding people’s right to protest and express dissent. I stand with dozens of racial justice, civil rights, and reproductive rights organizations in rejecting Gov. Hochul’s proposal.”

New York has robust, long-standing laws that already protect people leaving and entering houses of worship or reproductive health facilities. In fact, section 240.70-71 of the state’s Penal Code criminalizes intentionally interfering with another person’s ability to obtain or provide reproductive health services and exercise of religion at a house of worship, imposing special penalties on those who physically obstruct someone from accessing these sites. And the rest of New York’s Penal Code already protects every New Yorker from harassment, menacing, assault, or battery wherever they are, including when entering or leaving a house of worship, reproductive health facility, or an educational facility.