New York City educators who were denied a religious exemption to vaccination on Monday were back in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in the cases Kane v. De Blasio and Keil v. The City of New York.
You can listen to the entire court hearing and recorded arguments here.
Plaintiffs and the general public were not allowed in the courtroom for Monday’s hearing. However, more than 100 people held a “faith rally” in front of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in downtown Manhattan. The rally was live streamed on CHD TV.
The plaintiffs in both cases won an injunction on Nov. 13, which gave them the opportunity to reapply for a religious exemption. However, attorneys for the plaintiffs say this relief is not adequate.
“New York City admits the policy they adopted to determine religious exemptions blatantly violates the Constitution and requires discrimination against minority faiths,” said Sujata Gibson, an attorney who along with co-counsel Mary Holland, president of Children’s Health Defense, represented the plaintiffs in Kane v. De Blasio.
Gibson added:
“We are not prepared to rely on their non-binding assurance that they will ‘comply’ with the law this time. It is a major victory that the courts and even the defendants finally acknowledge the city broke the law, but we will not rest until we get relief that applies to everyone.”
Gibson said it’s a blatant conflict of interest that the attorneys executing the new religious exemption process are the same attorneys representing the city in the current lawsuits.
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Attorneys for both sets of plaintiffs argued there needs to be relief for more educators who are on unpaid leave, beyond just the named plaintiffs. As attorneys pointed out, thousands must choose to either waive their right to sue or be permanently terminated and stripped of their tenure and benefits on Nov. 30.
Gibson also reminded the court there were highly esteemed scientists from Stanford and Johns Hopkins University who submitted affidavits stating that unvaccinated educators posed no greater threat to anyone than their vaccinated peers did. (Those scientists are Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and Dr. Marty Makary of Johns Hopkins University)
Barry Black, lead attorney in Keil v. The City of New York, detailed how the vaccine mandate in the city’s schools was not generally applicable because it was not applied to the general public.
Therefore the mandate needed to undergo strict scrutiny analysis, according to Black. Such strict analysis would require a much deeper look into all of the information surrounding the case, which may include dueling expert testimony and potential cross examination.
Black said this was “the last chance” to prevent harm for all of the educators on unpaid leave whose applications for religious exemptions were denied.
No ruling has been issued in either of the two cases since the Nov. 22 hearing. The cases were argued on an expedited basis so a ruling is expected to come shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday.
© 2021 Children’s Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Children’s Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Children’s Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Children’s Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker