Attorney General William Tong issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to decline hearing a case that challenged Connecticut Public Act No. 21-6, which removed the religious exemption for school vaccine requirements.
"This is the end of the road to a challenge to Connecticut’s lifesaving and fully lawful vaccine requirements. We have said all along, and the courts have affirmed-- the legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and to stop the spread of preventable disease," stated Attorney General Tong.
The plaintiffs, We the Patriots USA, Inc., argued that Connecticut violated their First Amendment rights by eliminating the religious exemption from school vaccination requirements. Both the District Court and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected this argument entirely. Subsequently, plaintiffs requested that the U.S. Supreme Court hear their case, but today, the Supreme Court declined.
A brief filed by Attorney General Tong in opposition to the petition for writ of certiorari can be accessed for further details on this matter.
Currently, only one part of this case remains active involving a single plaintiff's claim under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Office of the Attorney General anticipates that this IDEA claim will be dismissed by the District Court upon remand.
Connecticut law mandates that students receive certain immunizations before enrolling in school. Before 2021, students could apply for medical or religious exemptions from this requirement. Public Act 21-6 eliminated religious exemptions while allowing students from kindergarten through grade twelve who had already received such exemptions to be grandfathered in.