Professor Nestor Davidson shared his expert opinion on the history of health legislation in a Newsday article discussing a New York State mask mandate at risk to be overturned.
At issue is a ruling Monday by Nassau Judge Thomas Rademaker saying that the New York State Health Department overstepped when it imposed the mask mandate in December and that only the State Legislature had authority to do so. He said the issue hinges on authority, not the benefit of wearing masks.
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Nestor Davidson, a Fordham University law professor, said Rademaker is saying “delegations to agencies have to be clear.”
“But this seems well within the power the State Legislature has given the Health Department.” Davidson said. “Judge Rademaker’s opinion is written in sweeping terms and places a very high burden of specificity on the Legislature” to delegate authority.
Davidson, referring to the Spanish Influenza of 1918, said a mask orders have a history of being within the realm of public health agencies.
“This is not making up a whole new policy,” he said. “Mask mandates in response to respiratory diseases go back a long time. This is not some novel approach.”