Dear Commons Community,

In a case watched closely by colleges and universities mandating vaccinations of students and employees, a federal judge ruled on Sunday against a legal challenge to the Indiana University system’s vaccine mandate, effectively upholding the requirement that all students must be vaccinated from Covid before returning to the campus in the fall unless they qualify for an exemption. The ruling sends a strong signal that the lawsuits filed in response to colleges’ vaccine requirements may face steep odds in court.

Eight undergraduate and graduate students at Indiana filed a lawsuit against the university in June, arguing the mandate — which also applies to employees — was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. But Judge Damon R. Leichty of the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana denied the request in favor of the university’s “discretion to act reasonably in protecting the public’s health.”

“Recognizing the students’ significant liberty to refuse unwanted medical treatment, the Fourteenth Amendment permits Indiana University to pursue a reasonable and due process of vaccination in the legitimate interest of public health for its students, faculty, and staff,” said the court’s ruling. “Today, on this preliminary record, the university has done so for its campus communities.”

“This university policy isn’t forced vaccination,” wrote the judge. “The students have options — taking the vaccine, applying for a religious exemption, applying for a medical exemption, applying for a medical deferral, taking a semester off, or attending another university.” 

“Today’s ruling does not end the students’ fight — we plan to immediately appeal the judge’s decision,” states James Bopp, a conservative activist attorney who represented the students. 

COVID-19 vaccines have become a U.S. political flashpoint and the country has fallen short of President Joe Biden’s vaccine goals, raising concerns that life may not return to normal as the number of infections are beginning to rise. 

Leichty, appointed by former President Donald Trump, said had the students shown a likelihood that the university was infringing unreasonably on constitutional rights, blocking the policy would have been in the public interest. But he said the students “have a low likelihood of success” of proving that. 

More than 500 colleges and universities have mandated the COVID-19 vaccine and Leichty’s ruling appears to be the first in a case challenging such a policy. 

Judge Leichty has it right!

Tony

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