W. Va. Attorney General Opines Against Vaccine Mandates, Vaccine Passport Requirements

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Texts and decisions of appellate courts dealing with the fundamental nature of religious liberty are almost without limit.
52% : As one federal court recognized, "Jacobson predated the modern constitutional jurisprudence of tiers of scrutiny, was decided before the First Amendment was incorporated against the states, and did not address the free exercise of religion."
50% : These substantial impairments -- whether examined through the lens of due process, equal protection, or the First Amendment -- would, in our view, trigger strict scrutiny.
50% : The anti-discrimination laws described above, including Title II, Title VII, the ADA, and the WVHRA, would still apply to both a private vaccine mandate and a request for a passport in a private business subject to these statutes.
46% : Beyond the bodily-integrity issue, a wide-ranging state-employee mandate lacking any religious exemption would offend our constitution's guarantee of religious freedom. "
46% : Accordingly, if the State or state actor does not offer any religious exemption to a mandate that State employees be vaccinated, then such a mandate violates the West Virginia Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom.
46% : While we believe that such a restriction or model could be defended, we acknowledge that a federal court in Florida has enjoined enforcement of that State's vaccine-passport bans, reasoning that they violate the First Amendment and substantially burden interstate commerce.
43% : Likewise, a private employer's mandate or vaccine-passport requirement may violate federal and state anti-discrimination laws if it does not, at a minimum, provide for appropriate exceptions for those with religious-or disability-based objections.
39% : Even a broad ban -- such as an amendment to the WVHRA like the Montana law -- would not give rise to significant constitutional concerns, although it would impact the traditional framework for analyzing current anti-discrimination laws.

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