Suit was filed yesterday in a New York federal district court challenging the constitutionality of recently enacted New York Penal Law §265.01-e which bans possession of a firearm, rifle or shotgun in "any place of worship or religious observation." The suit was brought by a modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue, its president and another Jewish individual. The complaint (full text) in Goldstein v. Hochul, (SD NY, filed 9/29/2022) details a number of recent incidents of violence against Jews and alleges in part:
91. Penal Law § 265.01-2(2)(c) discriminates against religious beliefs and regulates and prohibits conduct because it is undertaken for religious reasons.
92. The Statute makes it more dangerous to attend a “sensitive location” than it would be had that law not been enacted, because it strips away the ability for people in that sensitive location to defend themselves. The Statute singles out religious locations for this elevated, state-sanctioned, danger. This acts as a deterrent for law-abiding people to enter such “sensitive locations,” including places of worship....
94. By singling out places of worship and religious observation for reduced Second Amendment rights, the Statute constitutes a religious gerrymander....
The suit also alleges that the statute is unconstitutionally vague, saying in part:
111. As observant Jews, nearly every location is a place of religious observation for plaintiffs Goldstein and Ornstein....
It also contends that the law violates the Second Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause and various provisions of the New York State Constitution. Hamodia reports on the lawsuit.
