Jacobson v. Massachusetts
 

John Marshall Harlan is highly respected by judges across the spectrum of leanings. Chief Justice John Roberts placed Harlan’s portrait on a wall in the room where the justices discuss cases.

Jacobson had a bad reaction to a vaccine and when the smallpox vaccine was mandated, he tested the waters to the level of the Supreme Court.

Jacobson lost and was fined $5.00, and the “common good” opinion written by Harlan in 1905 is with us still.

Today’s vile, incited division is not a result of the small percentage who have real medical reasons not to take the vaccine. I do not think anyone with the ability to think that one through would want them to be forced.

But the fact remains that the current vaccine deniers' go-round is almost entirely based on the rantings of those susceptible to the propaganda they invite to invade their lives in ways that could never have been imagined 116 years ago -- OR those who are a part of the initiating and/or spreading of that propaganda because their goal is to make money by making fools of people -- or the most sinister goal of wanting to see the downfall of our beloved country.

It is interesting to note that the justice newest to SCOTUS recently did NOT succumb to the Indiana University students who wanted IU’s vaccine mandate blocked. Their protest did not get past her. (Note: The university allows exemption from the mandate for both religious and medical reasons.)

Here is a direct quote from the opinion written by the still deeply respected John Marshall Harlan -- easy to understand – or should be – summing up the “common good.”

from the Supreme Court majority opinion written by John Marshall Harlan, 1905:

“There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good. On any other basis, organized society could not exist with safety to its members. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy.

Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own, whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that might be done to others.”


(And there it is – in defense of the “the common good” – engraved in our precious history -- I guess we’ll see how that goes.)

Boomer

I'm all for vaccination and mask wearing policies/mandates.
This virus isn't going away on its own.
It keeps finding new hosts in the unvaccinated and continues to evolve and mutate into more contagious and deadly strains.

The majority of patients hospitalized on ventilators, dying and dead are unvaccinated hosts.
100% of the 64 people who have died from Covid just on St. Thomas, VI were unvaccinated. The total population of the USVI encompassing St. John, St. Croix, St. Thomas and its smaller outlying islands is ONLY 106,000.
Senseless and tragic loss of life.

Large companies, corporations and businesses will make vaccinations mandatory for their employees.
The vaccine is free.
Healthcare Insurance and costs of hospitalizations due to covid is not.

"The Fox Corporation has instituted a strict COVID-19 policy that includes a vaccine passport, allowing only the company's fully-vaccinated employees to work in their offices without wearing a mask or social distancing."

100% totally agree.

it's people like you that the vaccinated are now getting fed up with. You want the benefits of others being vaccinated without earning it. unless you are wearing a 95 mask while you are out and about, you risk others. it is selfish.

yes that is another thing circulating on social media but here are the facts: Take a look at the “Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants” website from the World Health Organization (WHO). This shows when the different “Variants of Concern” and “Variants of Interest” were first detected. As you can see, all of these variants emerged in 2020. Of the Variants of Concern, the Alpha variant was first found in the United Kingdom (U.K.) in September 2020, the Beta variant in South Africa in May 2020, the Gamma variant in Brazil in November 2020, and the Delta variant in India in October 2020. Of the Variants of Interest, the Eta variant was first detected in multiple countries in December 2020, the Iota in the U.S. in November 2020, the Kappa in India in October 2020, and the Lamba variant in Peru in December 2020.

Next keep in mind when Covid-19 vaccination actually started in different parts of the world. As Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj reported for Reuters, Covid-19 vaccination didn’t really begin in India until January 2021, about three months after the Delta variant had emerged. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna did not receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their Covid-19 mRNA vaccines until December 2020, the same month that the Astra-Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine first received authorization in the U.K. All of this was after all four of the Variants of Concern had already been spreading.

Mandated Vax
 

We have been Vax'd. and support the Vax.
Yet, I am totally discussed with the egregious hypocrisy that Mandating businesses
to force employees to get Vax'd. 'OR ELSE!!'
The hypocrisy is that 644,000 Postal Employees have been exempted from the Vax
requirement, WHY, WHY WHY??? They can have as much contact with the public as
any other business employee!!! TOTAL B***S!!!

I think you might be referring to Hepatitis A, you can't get B or C from food. And I am unaware of any "required and mandated" vaccines for food service workers.

Whoa, so mean.
Please inform me how you EARNED anything?
I like to relax with a nice cold beer most nights.
Perhaps I will see you in Brownwood soon.
I'm there most nights.
Have a wonderful day!
Bye

not mean, just true. you are selfish but you are not alone which is the real tragedy. We EARNED it by doing everything we were asked...we wore masks without complaints and stayed home and when a vaccine was available we got it because we want to be able to live our lives again while people like you waltz around without a care about your fellow citizens. as Dirty Harry said,"do you feel lucky"? there are a lot of people on respirators who are begging for the vaccine but are being told it's too late. but obviously, that's a risk you're willing to take for yourself which would be fine if it didn't impact others.

I disagree with you 100%. If people are so stupid not to get vaccinated then mandating vaccination in the worst public health crisis in 1100 years is the right way to go.

It is not this mandate but more to follow
 

Look, if you are vaccinated then why worry about those that are not?

Why is it that they want to mandate any business with >100 employees, but postal workers, congressional and White House staff are all exempt from the mandate?

During lockdowns, business owners were forced to shut down but not government employees! You should really take these things into consideration.

Some of those of you who are not vaccinated are getting sick and filling hospital beds that are needed by others. The more the virus spreads, facilitated by the unvaccinated, the more the chance of mutations. The more cases and patients and deaths the more pressure there is for restrictions and lockdowns that hurt the economy.

The President can only make mandates for the Executive branch - he cannot make mandates for Congressional staff. Can you can point to a source for your assertion that Postal workers or White House staff are exempt?

Some businesses were shut down, not all. Some (most) government was open, not all.

PLEASE...explain your comment

During really bad flu seasons the hospitals are also overwhelmed and deaths are high. What happens when a new variant emerges, because that's what viruses do, and is resistant to any vaccine? You are probably betting that it won't but I wouldn't put too much money on that bet.

ALL people in the US want the CV Pandemic to go away - I will assume that is a GIVEN. So, there are ONLY about 2 ways to achieve that......1 ) The Federal Government exercises its MANDATE to protect ALL citizens by MANDATING CV vaccines for all institutions that it controls ........Or .....2 ) flip a coin and move ALL vaccinated people to (say) West of the Mississippi River and (say) all UNvaccinated people to the East.
......So, which of those two options would cost the less money?
.......I am thinking.......hhhhhmmmmm .....option # 1 is the winner !