SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — On the same day Onondaga County Legislator Timothy Burtis introduced a bill that would ban protesters from demonstrating within 35 feet of a place of worship, Gov. Kathy Hochul passed a law effectively doing the same, but for 50 feet.
So he brought up the bill again for lawmakers to vote on Tuesday. And five minutes later, he pulled it.
“There’s no reason to pass it along,” Burtis, a Republican representing the Cicero area, said at the Onondaga County Legislature’s June voting session on Tuesday. “What New York State has done is enough for me today.”
Burtis’ bill, which he insisted was “not a protest law, but a places of worship protection act,” would have made it a misdemeanor to protest within 35 feet of the entrance of a place of worship, or within 10 feet of someone going to or from such a place, within an hour before or after any meeting there. The punishment would have been a $250 fine, at most a year in prison, or both…