The surprisingly strong SCOTUS precedent supporting vaccine mandates

Yet it remains an intriguing question how today’s justices would view a Jacobson-like challenge to a Covid-19 vaccination mandate. For while the arguments would be largely the same, there are some differences in both the circumstances and attitudes among the justices.

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For one thing, the smallpox inoculations of 1904 had been around for far longer than today’s coronavirus vaccines. Smallpox had been a rampant killer for most of recorded history, branding those who survived with lifetime scars. Anti-smallpox vaccines had been in development for well over a century by the time Jacobson lodged his complaint; no less than General George Washington had ordered his troops vaccinated against smallpox. The disease would finally be irradicated in 1980, following a concerted global vaccination campaign.

Would today’s justices believe that the shorter frame of reference for Covid vaccines is reason alone to reject a mandate? If not, the fate of the law would depend on how the court regards the concept of personal liberty in today’s highly polarized political landscape.

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