On 20 November 2018, the California court of appeal for the third appellate district, in a strong decision, rejected a challenge by the anti-vaccine organization A Voice for Choice and three individual plaintiffs to SB277, California’s law removing the personal… Read More »Another SB277 lawsuit rejected – anti-vaccine Voice for Choice loses
To remind readers, in November 2016 a fourth lawsuit attacking California’s SB277, the law that removed the personal belief exemption from school immunization requirements, was filed in a district court in California. On January 13, 2017, after a hearing, the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted. This is another SB277 lawsuit ruling that has supported the state of California.
The decision gave leave to amend, because the standard for doing so is very lax – as the decision explains, “[l]eave to amend should be granted unless the district court ‘determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts.’” But the court left very little room for a successful amendment. It’s unknown yet whether plaintiffs would appeal.
Basically, the court followed the extensive jurisprudence in United States courts supporting school immunization laws, based on their role in protecting the public health.
This post starts by explaining more in detail the court’s decision. Then it addresses – shortly, because that’s not the focus of the case now – two issues the court did not address in detail: why the plaintiffs’ argument of unconstitutional conditions is unconvincing and the problems with the plaintiffs’ effort to distinguish previous Supreme Court cases. Read More »SB277 lawsuit ruling – suit from A Voice for Choice dismissed by court