Amish families face $2,000 daily fines over New York vaccine mandate, seek Supreme Court relief
Amish schools in upstate New York are being fined up to $2,000 per day for keeping unvaccinated children, and the community is challenging the state's vaccine mandate in the Supreme Court.
In rural upstate New York, one-room Amish schools that receive no public funding are being penalized up to $2,000 each day for refusing to vaccinate children against diseases such as measles and polio. The fines follow a 2019 statute, signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that removed religious exemptions after a 2018 measles outbreak that produced 312 cases in Rockland County. Amish parents Joseph Miller, Jonas Smucker and community delegate Ezra Wengard filed suit claiming the mandate infringes on their free-exercise and equal-protection rights; both a federal district court and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the state.
The Supreme Court has sent the case back for reconsideration and may now issue a definitive ruling, which the Amish fear could force a mass exodus to neighboring Pennsylvania, where religious exemptions remain. Legal counsel Hiram Sasser of First Liberty Institute says the outcome rests with the nine justices. The Department of Health and Human Services has reiterated support for parental choice under a recent executive order.
Why it matters
The ruling could set a nationwide precedent on how public-health mandates intersect with religious liberty.
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