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WV AG Patrick Morrisey issues opinion against constitutionality of vaccine passports

🔥 West Virginia’s attorney general issued a stunning opinion a couple weeks ago (it just posted on Westlaw). In it, he said vaccine passports were unconstitutional:

“[A] law requiring all state employees to be vaccinated or requiring all businesses to demand vaccine passports from all patrons would violate our State’s constitution … and violate both state and federal law … We therefore urge any public entities to comply with such guidance and come into accordance with this opinion.”

He then pointed out that private employers are subject to limitations on how they can enforce injection passports:

“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.”

But best of all, the Attorney General encouraged the West Virginia legislature to take additional steps to protect people:

“Additional steps can and should be taken by the Legislature to ensure that individual liberty interests are protected. The Legislature could:

* Preclude vaccine mandates for some or all employees;

* Bar governments from imposing vaccine passport requirements or bar such passport requirements outright;

* Ensure that employment-related policies contain, at a minimum, exceptions for those with religious objections and other objections, such as those of a medical or conscientious nature; and/or

* Implement a religious or conscientious objector exception for compulsory school vaccinations.

In view of the broad notions of individual liberty and security which underlie our sense of freedom, potent constraints on overreaching governmental intrusions are appropriate.”

Are you listening, Florida Legislature?

— ☕️ Coffee & Covid 🦠

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