Some NYPD court officers still being forced to mask up

Hundreds of New York Police Department (NYPD) Court Section officers have been forced to continue wearing masks on the job due to a judge’s order made last year for a COVID-19 lawsuit, despite most other mask mandates being lifted, according to the New York Daily News.

A November 2021 federal lawsuit representing almost 40 people detained at New York City state courthouses during the COVID-19 pandemic’s last stage accused the city of failing to comply with COVID-19 mitigation guidance, and the detainees’ attorney Richard Cardinale says they lacked criminal records but “were jammed into unsanitary cells” without masks or screenings, the outlet reported. New York City agreed to a consent order in January 2022 over the lawsuit, requiring all central booking facility staff at the courthouses, including NYPD Court Section officers, to wear masks when interacting with others on-site.