‘Checkmate’: U.S. Supreme Court Delivers Huge Win for Religious Exemptions

The U.S. Supreme Court today reversed a lower court decision against a group of Amish parents and school leaders who challenged the state of New York’s vaccine mandates for schools, ruling that the appeals court must reconsider the case.

Today’s ruling is a win for health and religious freedom advocates — one that could have implications for other states that don’t allow religious exemptions from school vaccine mandates, attorneys said.

Attorney Sujata Gibson told The Defender today’s Supreme Court decision is “checkmate” for states that refuse to accept religious exemptions. “It means we’re almost certainly getting the religious exemption back, not only in New York, but across the country,” Gibson said.

Today’s decision stems from a lawsuit filed on June 2, 2023, against the New York State Department of Health and New York State Education Department, alleging they violated the U.S. Constitution by preventing the plaintiffs from exercising their religion.

Attorney Aaron Siri filed the suit on June 2, 2023, seeking injunctive relief.

On July 31, lawyers, including Siri, asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, Miller v. McDonald, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit dismissed the suit in March.