On December 10, ICAN’s attorneys achieved what many considered impossible in the state of New York: a victory for religious freedom. New York is notoriously one of the toughest states in the nation when it comes to vaccine mandates and exemptions—due in part to the 2019 removal of the religious exemption option for K-12 school students. Fortunately, however, justice prevailed on Tuesday in a remarkable ruling against Hofstra University for attempting to expel a student after she refused the MMR vaccine.
The plaintiff, an incoming freshman at Hofstra University, requested a religious exemption this past summer to Hofstra’s MMR vaccine requirement. Unsurprisingly, her religious exemption request was denied in late August. However, instead of denying her admission, Hofstra (a privately funded university), accepted her tuition money, allowed her to move across the country into its campus dormitories, attend class, and play on one of the university’s sports teams for weeks before issuing her another denial letter in mid-September. The new letter notified the freshman that she would be expelled and evicted from her dormitory, leaving her essentially homeless and thousands of miles away from her family in California.
Partnering with attorney James Mermigis, and supported by ICAN, ICAN attorneys challenged Hofstra’s denial in New York state court—and won. In a scathing decision by Judge Felice Muraca of Nassau County Court, the Court stated that Hofstra’s decision to expel the student under these circumstances was “clearly a penalty so excessive that it shocks one’s sense of fairness.” He also pointed out the absurdity and arbitrariness of Hofstra’s exemption process, stating that Hofstra “failed to demonstrate that it complied with its own policies and procedures,” since at least one of Hofstra’s supposed standards “is not written down anywhere” and the reviewing committee “does not have any guidelines or protocols as to how to conduct its final determination.”
ICAN is thrilled to report that Hofstra’s denial of this student’s religious exemption request has now been vacated effective immediately, marking a major victory in our war against unconstitutional vaccine mandates. ICAN is only able to support students like this one, and expand the body of precedent to help others, due to your support. To continue to support ICAN’s ongoing work in defending bodily autonomy rights and religious freedom, click here.
