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News & Current Events Mar 28, 2026 at 5:05 PM

NYC Council approves ‘buffer zone’ legislation insulating houses of worship from protests

Posted by Somervilledrew

NYC Council approves ‘buffer zone’ legislation insulating houses of worship from protests
The Forward
NYC Council approves ‘buffer zone’ legislation insulating houses of worship from protests
A separate law aimed at protecting schools could be subject to Mayor Zohran Mamdani's veto.
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21 Comments

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byndr Mar 28, 2026 +18
I don't see this surviving a 1A challenge in court.
18
Gurney_Hackman Mar 28, 2026 +7
Why not? They do it for abortion clinics, and houses of worship have stronger constitutional protections.
7
Snagglespoof Mar 28, 2026 +2
People still protest clinics. I believe the issue is with inhibiting someone's ability to come and go freely from them.
2
Gurney_Hackman Mar 28, 2026 +4
The issue is that abortion is a right and protesting is a right, so there has to be a compromise in which both rights are allowed to be exercised. Similarly, protesting is a right and practicing religion is a right, so there has to be a compromise. Allowing protesters to disrupt the religious service would violate people's right to practice their religion.
4
platinumarks Mar 28, 2026 +2
Abortion is no longer a right in the US after the decision in *Dobbs,* sadly
2
Snagglespoof Mar 28, 2026 +1
Seems... Kind of fair to me but then it depends on what it means to interfere. People obvooshly protest outside of scientology centers.
1
SnootSnootBasilisk Mar 28, 2026 -1
How about my right to not have a religion I'm no longer a part of dictate my life?
-1
Gurney_Hackman Mar 28, 2026 +5
In what way is that right being interfered with?
5
SnootSnootBasilisk Mar 29, 2026 +1
It's becoming increasing hard to be allowed to be on gender-affirming care because Christo-fascists want to put me in a camp or in the ground
1
SeatKindly Mar 29, 2026 -1
Freedom of religion having any form of priority over the freedom of speech is a failure of our system as a whole. But quite frankly I think every single temple of every institution should be ripped apart brick by brick. Tired of sky daddy worshipping nutters pushing their imaginary bullshit on everyone else.
-1
ligerzero942 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Yup you can't make it impossible/impractical to protest, especially when it comes to political institutions.
1
platinumarks Mar 28, 2026 +3
Time, place, and manner restrictions are legal under the First Amendment. There's a long line of court cases that have established that.
3
ligerzero942 Mar 28, 2026 +1
No, time, place and manner restrictions CAN be legal but only if it serves a compelling government interest and that the right to protest isn't abridged. If you're going to try to correct someone it helps to be actually correct.
1
platinumarks Mar 29, 2026 +1
OK, thanks for sharing.
1
Someblares Mar 28, 2026 +8
The Council is trying to thread a needle that doesn't exist. You can’t 'strengthen perimeters without inherently weakening the right to protest, and you can’t ignore that this started as a 100-foot ban before the NYPD told them it was a logistical nightmare.
8
poopey_doopey_Sr Mar 28, 2026 +6
Oh but these religious nutbags can go protest wherever? Cool, cool /s
6
Gurney_Hackman Mar 28, 2026 +7
No they can’t. Abortion clinics also have buffer zones.
7
Decent_Cheesecake_29 Mar 28, 2026 +4
All to save the feelings of some synagogues conducting illegal auctions of stolen land in the West Bank.
4
Intel-Source Mar 28, 2026 +1
They should do that with ICE!
1
FeldsparSalamander Mar 28, 2026
Their seems to be a gross misunderstanding of the 1st amendment and the concept of sanctuary itself
0
Gurney_Hackman Mar 28, 2026 +3
In what way? How is it different from buffer zones around abortion clinics?
3
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