Court Rejects Vaccination Exemption Claim

In Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools, (ED NY, July 23, 2011), a New York federal district court rejected parents' claim for a religious exemption under NY Public Health Law Sec. 2164(9) from the requirements for vaccination of their child against certain diseases in order to attend public school. The court, exercising pendent jurisdiction of plaintiffs' state law claim found that no evidence beyond that provided at the preliminary injunction stage had been offered. Preliminary relief had been denied on the ground that the parents' concerns involved safety and a secular philosophy, not religious belief. (See prior posting.)