Matt Bush, FISM News
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Terry Doughty, a U.S. District Judge in Louisiana, ruled that the federal government cannot require teachers or students in Head Start programs to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to wear a mask when on campus.
Head Start, a federally funded early childhood education program, was requiring all students to mask under the previous ruling despite the fact that the CDC had posted opposing return-to-school recommendations.
Sandy Brick, a Head Start teacher in Louisiana, brought her case, Brick v. Biden, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on December 22, 2021.
According to The Center Square, Brick felt like her freedom was on the line after teaching through the pandemic and all of the ups and downs that came along with it. Brick opposed the federal “jab-or-job” mandate issued by President Joe Biden on September 9, 2021, leading her to file the lawsuit.
Judge Doughty sided with Brick and personal liberty in his ruling:
The public interest is served by maintaining the constitutional structure and maintaining the liberty of individuals who do not want to take the COVID-19 vaccine. This interest outweighs Agency Defendants’ interests. The public has a liberty interest in not being required to take a vaccine or be fired from their jobs. The public interest must be considered before allowing Agency Defendants to mandate vaccines. Although vaccines arguably serve the public interest, the liberty interests of individuals mandated to take the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any interest generated by the mandatory administration of vaccines.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has argued that the Biden administration exceeded its authority in issuing a “one size fits all” response like mandates requiring everyone to wear masks or get vaccinated.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law and for health care freedom. We stood up and fought the Biden administration’s illegal mandates on behalf of Kansas kids, teachers, and parents, and today we all won,” Schmidt said regarding the case.
According to a press release from the Liberty Justice Center, “Head Start programs provide school readiness support for children up to age 5 from families at or below the federal poverty level.” These programs are vital to students who are just beginning their educational journey and deserve the best teachers available regardless of their vaccine status or willingness to wear a mask.
The ruling will “permanently enjoin the vaccine and mask mandate in 24 states” according to the ruling, and will provide freedom of choice for over 280,000 Head Start employees.
Judge Doughty also voiced his opinion that the case was about more than just federal mandates and vaccines. He wrote, “This case, although factually centered around the Head Start Mandate, is ultimately about the separation of powers under the United States Constitution. Specifically, whether the Agency Defendants, government agencies under the Executive branch, have the authority to impose the Head Start Mandate.”
With issues like abortion rights, vaccine mandates, and voting rights, all coming to a head over the past few months, the idea of “separation of powers” has become more and more important. Judge Doughty sees some of those same issues in this case as well.
As previously reported by FISM, President Biden recently announced that the pandemic is over, which led to a flurry of activity on the Democratic aisle to walk back those claims out of fear that it would contradict the need for mandates such as this one.
Lead attorney on the case, Daniel Suhr, referenced Biden’s statement in relation to this case:
Although President Biden recently declared that the ‘pandemic is over,’ the fight to restore Americans’ individual liberties is not. We will continue to fight for teachers like Sandy and the low-income students they serve until every illegal and unjustified mandate is wiped from the books. Today’s decision is a significant step toward undoing the injustice perpetrated against everyday Americans throughout the COVID-19 crisis.