A range of people—from nurses to firefighters to students—have filed lawsuits objecting to the mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations imposed by states and cities, claiming the policies infringe on their constitutional rights.
Nearly every legal challenge has failed so far.
With limited exceptions involving religious objectors, judges have overwhelmingly upheld orders in numerous states that require health workers, public employees, state university students and government contractors to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of employment. These rulings have allowed states to fire workers who refuse immunization.
“What we’re seeing are courts finding that mandates are lawful and constitutional,” said Jennifer Piatt, a deputy director with the Network for Public Health Law.
For more than a century, court rulings have recognized the authority of states to establish mandatory-vaccination programs. The most influential precedent cited by judges in their rulings is the 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, dealing with a Lutheran pastor’s objection to a smallpox-vaccination requirement.
“Jacobson established that there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccination,” wrote U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in an Oct. 19 opinion also upholding Oregon’s mandates.
