Supreme Court Won’t Block Maine’s Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers

The state included a coronavirus vaccine among the required vaccinations in an ordinance issued in August and set a deadline of October 29. Several health care workers sued, saying the requirement violated their constitutional right to freedom of worship.

Judge Jon D. Levy of Maine Federal District Court ruled against the plaintiffs.

“Both the serious risk of disease and death associated with the spread of the Covid-19 virus, as well as efforts by state and local governments to reduce this risk, have weighed on most aspects of modern life,” he wrote.

“Plaintiffs’ refusal to be vaccinated for their religious beliefs has created or will result in real hardship in their work,” wrote Judge Levy. “However, they have not been prevented from being true to their stated religious beliefs, which they claim compel them to be vaccinated against Covid-19.”

A unanimous panel of three judges from the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston upheld Judge Levy’s verdict.

Judge Sandra L. Lynch, who wrote for the panel, said the ordinance does not select religion for disadvantage. In a 1990 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that neutral laws of general application that incidentally impose a burden on religion generally do not conflict with the protection of religious freedom of the First Amendment. This decision, Employment Division v. Smith, was harshly criticized by the more conservative members of the Supreme Court.

What you should know about the Supreme Court tenure

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A blockbuster runtime begins. The Supreme Court, now dominated by six Republican appointments, returned to the bank on October 4 to begin a significant tenure in which it will consider abolishing the constitutional right to abortion and massively expanding gun rights.

The big abortion case. The court stands ready to challenge a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks to get Roe v. Wade, undermining and possibly overturning the 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. The ruling could effectively end legal access to abortion for those living in much of the South and Midwest.

An important choice for guns. The court will also examine the constitutionality of a long-standing New York law that severely restricts guns being carried outside the home. The court has not issued a major ruling under the second amendment in more than a decade.

A decline in public support. Chief Justice Roberts now heads a court that is increasingly being associated with partiality. Recent polls show that after a spate of unusual late summer judgments in politically charged cases, the court is suffering a sharp drop in public support.

Plaintiffs in the Maine case said the state was an outlier in refusing to grant religious exemptions.

“Almost every other state,” they told the judges, “has found a way to protect themselves from the same virus without violating religious freedom – including states with smaller populations and much larger territory than Maine. If Vermont, New Hampshire, Alaska, Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, California, and the District of Columbia find ways to both protect themselves from Covid-19 and respect individual freedom, Maine can too. ”