Posted on Nov 9, 2021 at 7:19 am
In the United States, it all ends in court. The Biden administration’s attempts to impose the Covid vaccine are no exception. This weekend, three Louisiana judges suspended the White House’s decision to force companies with more than 100 employees to vaccinate their employees by January 4. Otherwise, unvaccinated employees had to present a negative test and wear a mask to be able to work. If these rules were not respected, companies could be fined more than $ 130,000.
The judges estimated that this vaccination obligation, targeting 84 million employees, posed “serious statutory and constitutional problems”. Such verdicts could multiply in the coming days. Twenty-seven states, all Republican-led, questioned Joe Biden’s decree and brought the case to justice. Businesses have joined the movement.
Rather conservative justice?
In this area, the Biden administration is not in a strong position. Of the three judges who ruled in Louisiana, two were appointed by Donald Trump and another… by Ronald Reagan. In total, in lower federal courts (local courts, courts of appeal, etc.), Donald Trump has appointed more than 200 conservative judges, who make important decisions before opinions are eventually sent to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court which could decide the question as a last resort, and which has also clearly passed into the conservative camp with the appointments of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
So far, the vaccine obligations decreed by the Biden administration and by states and municipalities at the local level have held up rather well to the judges. All decisions, such as those to impose the vaccine on nursing staff, students or firefighters, have been challenged in court. None have been fundamentally questioned. In Massachusetts, the judge said that the decree requiring employees to present proof of vaccination to be able to work was a “reasonable and appropriate way to advance the goal of stopping the advance of the pandemic. “
No wave of resignations
The pressure is however strong in the street. Several professions have protested loudly in recent days against attempts to impose vaccination. In New York, civil servants were several thousand to demonstrate in the city, ten days ago, against the injunction to be vaccinated. Since 1is November, they are required to have received at least a first dose.
New York’s main police union has filed a lawsuit and called on justice to restore the right to work, even for the unvaccinated. About 6% of the New York police force have been arrested in recent days for failing to comply with their obligations.
In Chicago, where 71% of police officers are vaccinated, a judge suspended a similar city order, pending a decision on the merits. “The obligation to report is itself a minimum intrusion, especially since the police are already obliged to provide medical information to their employer,” he explained. In the conservative ranks, some also fear a wave of resignations from the police. For the moment, the phenomenon remains marginal. In New York, only 89 police officers have resigned in recent months, a figure only slightly higher than the usual average.
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