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What to do about all this talk about students having to wear masks when school reopens

What to do about all this talk about students having to wear masks when school reopens

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From New Jersey to California, there is talk from public health and school officials that if school reopens in the fall, students will be required to wear masks. Many parents do not like the idea of their kids wearing masks all day, for health reasons. The question is what can you do about? My short, (and probably not entirely satisfying) answer is that it’s about activism, because you should not expect any help from the courts on this issue. As…

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Foolish mandatory vaccination talk from the New York State Bar Association

Foolish mandatory vaccination talk from the New York State Bar Association

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Circulating on social media is a recently published draft task force report from the New York State Bar Association, Health Law section. Like social media is saying, these New York health lawyers are proposing a State bar position in favor of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, and specifically: “when the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine has been confirmed, enact legislation requiring vaccination of each person unless the person’s physician deems vaccination for his or her patient to be clinically inappropriate.” See page…

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How significant is yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision in South Bay Pentecostal Church v. Newsom?

How significant is yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision in South Bay Pentecostal Church v. Newsom?

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Short answer: not very. Longer and more nuanced answer: the decision sets no precedent, but it does reaffirm long-standing precedent back to our old friend (or enemy) Jacobson, that judges are reluctant to second-guess public health decisions made during public health crises by state and local officials, because it is their job to make such decisions and they are accountable to the public via elections. What did the Supreme Court do? Yesterday, May 29th, the Supreme Court denied a California…

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Ken Stoller Case Update

Ken Stoller Case Update

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Here is the latest onthe case and a couple other things going on in California on the medical exemption issue https://gogetfunding.com/blog-single-update/?blogpre=6408571&single=50914 Rick Jaffe, Esq.

Contact tracing: some analysis, perspective, and a conditional prediction

Contact tracing: some analysis, perspective, and a conditional prediction

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The vaccine concerned and many others are worried about contact tracing, so for whatever it’s worth, here are some initial thoughts. First, let’s get on the same page. Last month, the CDC published information about it. Here it is: “Certain core principles of contact tracing must always be adhered to: • Contact tracing is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection. • In contact tracing, public health staff work with a patient to help them…

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Breaking News (and some welcome push back from a State Supreme Court and Elon Musk)

Breaking News (and some welcome push back from a State Supreme Court and Elon Musk)

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Two significant things happened today. Alameda Country appeared to back down and allow Tesla to reopen its plant after Elon Musk threatened to move his business out of state. Good for him and good for Tesla. Hopefully it will all work out, worker health-wise. Second, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has just overturned the extension of the Governor’s stay-at-home order. I haven’t read the opinion yet, but it does cite (or a justice said) with disapproval, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Korematsu…

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Ken Stoller’s Medical Board Hearing Update/It’s still scheduled for June 8th, but…..

Ken Stoller’s Medical Board Hearing Update/It’s still scheduled for June 8th, but…..

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Maybe coming to your home soon! Here is what is going on: https://gogetfunding.com/blog-single-update/?blogpre=6408571&single=49782 Rick Jaffe, Esq.

More on what governments can get away with in these COVID-19 times

More on what governments can get away with in these COVID-19 times

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Some of my FB friends have asked me to write something about the spate of government orders about social distancing, closures of state parks and beaches, constitutional rights to congregate and associate in public, requiring masks when in stores, and mandatory testing (which I will deal with another time). A few of these issues are simple, but most are not. Whatever else, this pandemic has certainly provided a real-time lesson on federalism, the essence of which is a shared/sometimes overlapping…

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Some perspective on President Trump’s call for off-label use of Hydroxychloroquine

Some perspective on President Trump’s call for off-label use of Hydroxychloroquine

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The President is getting a lot of flak for basically telling COVID-19 patients to try Hydroxychloroquine or as he has put it, “What do you have to lose.” The criticism from the medical establishment is that the drug is not proven safe or effective for COVID-19. That is true, but it’s not the whole story. Most people are or have recently become familiar with the concept of “off label” use, but I suspect few really understand some important aspects of…

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To all you Yahoos who think you have a constitutional right to congregate during a pandemic

To all you Yahoos who think you have a constitutional right to congregate during a pandemic

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The short of it is that you don’t. For at least the last few hundred years, the law has recognized the government’s responsibility to protect the public health via its police powers. That job primarily falls to the states under the 10th Amendment, which provides that all powers not expressly granted to the federal government resides in the states. There are many cases where state and the federal government have been allowed to lock-up people considered dangerous to the health,…

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