State judge leaves vaccine law in place

Rose Weldon
Earlier at the Manhasset Board of Education meeting on Aug. 22, where the board was asked to write to Judge Denise Hartman in requesting a stay against the law eliminating the religious exemption from vaccines (Photo by Rose Weldon).

A  state Supreme Court judge has left in place a law passed in June that eliminated the religious exemption for vaccines, mandating that all children attending public, private or parochial schools must be immunized. 

In her ruling on Monday, Judge Denise Hartman denied a motion for a preliminary injuction against the law by the plaintiffs, made up of parents who claim their children are affected by the exemption’s removal and that it violates their First Amendment rights to religion.

“Because plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, the court denies the request for a preliminatry injunction; the legislative repeal of the religious exemption remains in effect,” Hartman wrote.

Citing the 810 confirmed cases of measles in the state between October 2018 and May 2019, and directly quoting the 1944 Supreme Court case Prince v. Massachusetts, Hartman further asserted: “The right to practice religion does not include liberty to expose the commmunity or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death.”

Prior to the judge’s decision, some parents on Long Island expressed fear that their children won’t be returning to school under the new law.

At a public meeting of the Manhasset Board of Education last Thursday, parents of students in the district rose during the public forum session to ask that the district join them in petitioning the state Board of Regents for a stay against the law. 

Barbara LaPadula, a 23-year Manhasset resident and parent of three children in the hamlet’s public schools who says she has had a religious exemption for 12 years, asked the board to “work with us” to assist in getting a stay against the law so that her children could attend school. 

“We’re not asking you to break laws or make exceptions,” LaPadula said. “We’re asking you to help us.”

Vincent Butera, superintendent of schools in Manhasset, said at the meeting that the parents’ request for a letter to the regents “will be taken under advisement,” and that he would speak to the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents at their upcoming meeting about the matter. 

Similarly, at a Mineola Board of Education meeting held the same night, during the public comment session, Melissa Bordez, a resident and parent of students, requested a letter from her board. 

“I’m asking you on behalf of 26,000 children who have nowhere to go in two weeks to write the honorable Judge Hartman and ask her to please give us a stay,” Bordez said. 

A motion for an injunction from New York parents at the federal level was denied by Judge Allyne Ross on Aug. 19.

Tom McCarthy contributed reporting.

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