Of Freedom, Country and Vaccination

[dirkfansince1998]

The mandate is unconstitutional and tyrannical and will be struck down in court.

There is a supreme court ruling on mandates on a state level (Jacobsen vs Massachusetts 1905) that was upheld through the years. Already mentioned some of the requirements for a legal mandate in previous posts. Not to mention the numerous amounts of vaccines that are required for certain groups (schools, health care workers) differing from state to state. Or the army.
So far objections to state mandates have been rejected in Indiana, New York and Maine. So mandates are clearly a legal possibility.

Question is if the federal government can enforce them. There is no precedent when it comes to vaccine mandates. Comes down to state vs federal law. In this case OSHA vs state law. Going back to the origin of OSHA in 1970 that´s why OSHA exists in the first place. To enforce worplace safety standards in all states. Going along with that the mandate should beat stat law.
Next part. Are vaccine mandates within the authority of OSHA? COVID is clearly endangering people in their workplace environment. OSHA is enforcing rules to guarantee work place safety. That´s where all previously mentioned concerns have to be adressed (necessity, alternatives, exemptions...).

And in this case we have to go into detail. What exactly is getting mandated? Per definition it is not a vaccine mandate. It is a test mandate with an exemption for vaccinated people. One important question was already answered. Who pays for vaccine related sick day leave? Per OSHA the employer. Great. That´s how it should. Next important question that probably needs to be answered to prevent courts from stopping the mandate. Who pays for the tests?

Last part. The reality of the situation is probably more about politics. Both parties are always trying to get their judges in place for a reason. I was suprised to see that a "conservative" supreme court denied the religious exemptions for health care workers in Maine.
Not suprised by the 5th circuits decision to halt the OSHA mandate. 12 judges appointed by Bush (4), Reagan(2) and Trump (6). 5 by Clinton (2) and Obama (3). But that´s how it works. So far it has been a simple stay order. Will get more interesting in the coming days. When we see the response from the federal administration. When the court has to to go into detail on potential constitutional concerns.