On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Weighs in on Parents' Right to Claim Religious Exemptions for Children Under West Virginia Vaccination Law
MINGO COUNTY, W.Va.--The Rutherford Institute has filed a petition for rehearing in Workman v. Mingo County Board of Education, asking the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a decision denying a mother's right to claim a religious exemption for her child from a vaccination law. The West Virginia statute requires children to be vaccinated as a condition of attending public school.
The Institute's petition in Workman v. Mingo County Board of Education is available here.
"This is an important fundamental constitutional issue," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "If the state is going to allow some exemptions from the vaccination requirement--which it should do--then a proper regard for religious freedom compels it to recognize religious exemptions as well."
Jennifer Workman sought a religious accommodation from the Mingo County Board of Education because her religious beliefs precluded her from allowing her daughter to be vaccinated. Workman's request was denied. While exemptions are offered to children whose doctors certify that there is sufficient reason, exemptions are not allowed for children whose families object on religious or philosophical grounds. With the assistance of attorney Patricia Finn of Piermont, New York, Workman filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the denial of religious accommodation violates her rights to free exercise of religion and equal protection under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Finn has agreed to join forces with The Rutherford Institute as the case progresses through the appeals process.
In requesting that the case be reheard by the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, The Rutherford Institute's petition argues that the Fourth Circuit panel improperly glossed over critical legal issues that should have been thoroughly analyzed, including whether or not strict scrutiny should apply to claims in which both religious freedom and parental rights are implicated. Institute attorneys also argue that the panel's decision relied too heavily on early Supreme Court cases approving mandatory vaccination laws during a smallpox epidemic.
Finn will work with The Rutherford Institute to petition the High Court for writ of certiorari in the event that the decision is left standing. Institute attorneys believe that the case could be a candidate for review by the United States Supreme Court given that Circuit Courts of Appeals have split over issues that are central to the case, including what level of scrutiny should be applied to the denial of religious accommodation.
Rutherford Institute affiliate attorney Stephen Wills Murphy of the Charlottesville, Virginia firm St. John, Bowling, Lawrence & Quagliana, LLP, drafted the petition for the case to be reheard by the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
