Thread by @JoshMBlackman

1/ Pop Quiz: Did Jacobson v. Massachusetts hold that the state can forcibly vaccinate people? #SCOTUS

2/ False: The case only held that people who refuse to be vaccinated can be punished. The @nytimes accurately characterizes this aspect of Jacobson: nytimes.com/2019/04/09/hea…

3/ There is a long-standing distinction in the law between a "mandate to do something" and a "penalty for failing to do something." Indeed, CJ Roberts upheld the ACA on precisely this basis.

4/ Recently, New York City took the latter route, and issued a mandate: people in certain areas "shall be vaccinated against measles." Those who refuse to be vaccinated will be handled on a "case-by-case" basis.
courthousenews.com/wp-content/upl…

5/ The precedent that would support compulsory vaccination is not Jacobson, but Buck v. Bell. VA forced Carrie Buck to undergo a medical procedure. J. Holmes approved: "The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes."

6/ Counterintuitively, a mandatory quarantine would amount to a lesser infringement on individual liberty than mandatory vaccination.

7/ Putting aside these constitutional issues, everyone should vaccinate themselves, and their children. Please.

8/ NY proposes bill to eliminate religious exemption to compulsory vaccinations. nytimes.com/2019/04/12/nyr…

9/ This issue poses a Lukumi/Trinity Lutheran question: can the state eliminate an exemption from an otherwise generally applicable law based on a group's religious beliefs (or is it status)?

10/ On the flipside, the law would now have zero exemption. No underinclusivity problemals. And would there be evidence of anti-religious animus? Or is it anti-vaxxer animus?

11/ Here is the complaint challenging the NYC vaccination order: religionclause.blogspot.com/2019/04/parent…
The Plaintiffs' raise Free Exercise and Due Process claims.

12/ NY Court denies PI. Rejects free exercise objections because plaintiffs did not submit "affidavit of a religious official (priest, rabbi, etc.) or other doctrinal documentation tending to support their opinion" iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentD…