Supreme Court's Breyer Declines to Stop Maine Covid Vaccine Mandate

• Oct. 19, 2021, 5:54 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Justice Stephen G. Breyer connected Tuesday turned distant a petition from wellness attraction workers successful Maine who had asked the Supreme Court to artifact a authorities vaccine mandate based connected their spiritual objections portion their ineligible situation moved forward.

Justice Breyer did not inquire for a effect to the workers’ exertion oregon notation it to the afloat Supreme Court. He said the workers could instrumentality to the Supreme Court aft the national appeals tribunal rules connected their entreaty oregon if that tribunal does not contented a determination by Oct. 29. That is the day connected which the authorities has said it volition commencement enforcing the requirement.

Last week, Judge Jon D. Levy of the Federal District Court successful Maine, ruled that the request did not tally afoul of the First Amendment’s extortion of the escaped workout of religion.

“Both the superior hazard of unwellness and decease associated with the dispersed of the Covid-19 microorganism and the efforts by authorities and section governments to trim that hazard person burdened astir aspects of modern life,” helium wrote.

“In this case, the plaintiffs — wellness attraction workers and a wellness attraction supplier — person shown that their refusal to beryllium vaccinated based connected their spiritual beliefs has resulted oregon volition effect successful existent hardships arsenic it relates to their jobs,” Judge Levy wrote. “They person not, however, been prevented from staying existent to their professed spiritual beliefs which, they claim, compel them to garbage to beryllium vaccinated against Covid-19.”

A unanimous three-judge sheet of the appeals court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, successful Boston, refused to artifact the mandate portion the workers’ entreaty of Judge Levy’s ruling moved forward.

The Supreme Court had earlier rejected challenges to vaccination requirements astatine Indiana University and for unit successful New York City’s schoolhouse system. Those rulings were besides issued by conscionable 1 justice, which tin beryllium a motion that the ineligible questions progressive were not considered substantial.