Three more upstate New York sheriffs have announced their refusal to enforce the state’s private gathering limit on Thanksgiving.
In a scathing Facebook post on Saturday, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino questioned the legality of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s newly instituted 10-person cap on parties and other gatherings in private residences.
“Frankly, I am not sure it could sustain a Constitutional challenge in Court for several reasons including your house is your castle,” the sheriff wrote in the Saturday post.
“And as a Sheriff with a law degree I couldn’t in good faith attempt to defend it Court, so I won’t,” he said.
Giardino noted his office, with limited resources, has scant legal options to enter private homes other than search warrants, invitations or under an “emergency circumstance.”
“We have limited resources and we have to set priorities, so obtaining a Search Warrant to enter your home to see how many Turkey or Tofu eaters are present is not a priority,” Giardino wrote.
Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy said there will be no Thanksgiving enforcement, and on Monday, Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo also threw cold water on the state order.
“I can’t see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens’ driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they’ve purchased is for the public good,” Zurlo said in a press release.
Last Friday, two days after Cuomo announced the new restrictions, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard said his office would ignore the indoor gathering limit.
“Politicians acting like politicians and ignoring what the actual experts say has been fueling the spread of this virus [and] is what plunged this country in this continued public health crisis in the first place,” senior Cuomo adviser Richard Azzopardi said in response to the announcements.
“We urge everyone to continue to be smart and act responsibly. We know this makes people unhappy, but better unhappy than sick or worse.”