New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has issued an order to shut down outside gatherings, but has come out to exempt Black Lives Matter protests from this order, justifying this by stressing how important the message of these protests is. This message is more important than public health because all other outdoor gatherings are far too unsafe to be held.
Mayor de Blasio has been very supportive of the protests. He has been pictured helping to paint “Black Lives Matter” in front of Trump Tower. He claims that the street is now “liberated”. He has also committed to move funding from the New York Police Department budget to other community programs.
Public health orders are legal when implemented correctly, but one could question how this one has been implemented. The exemption here could be illegal.
The preferential treatment given to the protests could be seen to violate the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, more specifically the Equal Protection Clause. This order does violate rights of free speech and assembly, but the government’s interest in preserving public health is important enough to justify the order.
When one group is allowed to assemble and present their own message while other groups are not allowed to do the same, and the ban isn’t enforced equally across all groups, the government’s interest might come into question.
However, Mayor de Blasio does not seem to be intentionally suppressing the rights of other groups, or causing them damages for any malicious reasons. His decision still violates the clause as Supreme Court cases have established that preferential treatment of a minority group over the majority violates the Equal Protection Clause.
I don’t think that anyone will challenge the order, and I’m not sure anyone has enough justification to challenge it anyway. It is always good to know how you are protected because you might find yourself in need of that protection some day.
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The Mill Review 