08/17/2021
Rutgers Students Ask Court To Block COVID Vaccine Mandate
By Hailey Konnath
Law360 (August 16, 2021, 10:23 PM EDT) -- A group of Rutgers students on Monday hit the New Jersey university with a suit over the institution's COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students, claiming that they're being coerced into taking an experimental vaccine in violation of federal law and their civil rights.
Rutgers is requiring its students to be vaccinated before returning to campus for the fall semester, and more than 95% of students had complied with the mandate as of Aug. 11, according to the university.
But five students said in their suit that the policy violates their right to informed consent and to refuse unwanted medical treatment as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. It also violates New Jersey state law, which requires the acceptance of "evidence of immunity from disease" in lieu of vaccination, according to the complaint, which was filed in New Jersey federal court.
Federal law gives everyone the right to accept or refuse vaccines that are authorized for emergency use, they added.
"Fundamentally, the policy is an affront to human dignity and personal freedom because it violates our basic right to control our bodies," they said.
The suit was filed by students Peter Cordi, Raelynne Miller, Kayla Matteo, Adriana Pinto and Jake Bothe along with Children's Health Defense, a Georgia organization founded in 2016 by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. The complaint states that "[t]he harm and injury caused by vaccines has been a focus of [Children's Health Defense] for many years."
The suit lists Rutgers, its board of governors, President Jonathan Holloway and Chancellor Brian L. Strom as defendants.
In particular, the students said Rutgers' policy doesn't meet the standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1905 decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts. In that case, the high court held that a state could require people to be vaccinated against smallpox.
The students are bringing seven claims against the university, which they said has no legal authority to require the vaccination. New Jersey hasn't passed a law requiring COVID-19 vaccinations at colleges and universities, they noted.
They're also alleging breach of contract and detrimental reliance because they relied on earlier statements made by the university that it wouldn't require the vaccine, according to the suit.
And the students claimed that Rutgers is working with vaccine manufacturers to study and develop the vaccines, meaning the school will benefit financially if more people are required to get the shots.
"Bottom line: neither Rutgers nor any other college or university in the country should be allowed to usurp the authority of the people through their elected officials to decide what vaccines are safe, efficacious, necessary, and accord with the civil rights guaranteed by our state and federal constitutions," the students said.
They asked the court to declare the vaccine mandate illegal and unconstitutional.
Rutgers' representatives didn't immediately return a request for comment late Monday. However, in a letter circulated last week, Holloway said that he is confident in the strategies and protocols Rutgers has in place to help with students' return to campus. The vaccine mandate is a "critical step" in repopulating Rutgers campuses, he said.
"This is so important because as more of us are vaccinated, the safer the Rutgers community will be," Holloway said.
He noted that almost all current hospitalizations for COVID-19 are among the unvaccinated. And data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that more than 99.99% of those in our country who are fully vaccinated have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, Holloway said.
"I cannot stress enough how critical these effective and safe vaccines are," Holloway said.
The suit joins a growing list of similar actions challenging vaccine mandates at universities around the country.
Earlier this month, a group of Indiana University students filed an emergency petition urging the Supreme Court to take up their lawsuit challenging the school's vaccine mandate. The request came after a Seventh Circuit panel ruled that the university could continue its policy while the students appealed a lower court's order.
The University of Massachusetts is facing a similar suit from a pair of undergraduate students who say their institution's mandate violates their constitutional rights.
There's precedent for upholding immunization requirements, but legal experts have told Law360 that the fact that all three of the vaccines are being administered under emergency use authorization, or EUA, could complicate matters. There isn't much case law for mandating drugs and vaccines, such as the COVID-19 vaccines, that have not yet received full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
The students are represented by Julio C. Gomez of Gomez LLC, Susan C. Judge of Judge Law LLC and Mary Holland and Ray Flores of Children's Health Defense.
Counsel information for Rutgers wasn't immediately available Monday.
The case is Children's Health Defense Inc. et al. v. Rutgers the State University of New Jersey et al., case number 2:21-cv-15333, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
--Additional reporting by Cara Bayles, Brian Dowling and Khorri Atkinson. Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
