N.J. Court Rejects Police Union's Challenge to Corrections Vax Mandate

A state appeals court panel on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the state police union challenging Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for correctional officers in New Jersey.

Murphy issued the executive order in January requiring anyone working in “high-risk congregate settings“ in New Jersey, including state correctional facilities, to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The police union asked the court to halt enforcement of the governor’s order, which prevented correctional officers from opting out by undergoing weekly testing.

In its ruling, the three-judge appellate court panel admonished union members for using a “self-centered construct of ‘jabs vs. jobs’” without considering the harm to society.

“In the final analysis, there are times when individual self-interests like those asserted by appellants must take a backseat to the responsibilities we all have toward each other,” Judge Clarkson S. Fisher Jr. wrote in the opinion.

The union in January took issue with the timing of the governor’s order, noting that it came on the heels of a decline in the number of COVID cases and the transmission rate.

In a statement posted Friday on the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association website, the union said the court’s decision would result in layoffs and damage public safety.

“Testing and masking were not an unreasonable approach to limit the spread of a virus that seems to be retreating,” the union said in the statement. “It makes no sense for New Jersey to double down on one set of employees while removing restrictions for countless others.”

Alyana Alfaro, a spokeswoman for Murphy’s office, applauded the decision and said it will keep “a valuable mitigation tool in place, ensuring that New Jersey continues to protect our most at risk residents.”

“Governor Murphy knows that vaccination and boosters remain our strongest defenses against COVID-19, particularly for our vulnerable populations,” Alfaro said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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