N.J. Supreme Court Won't Block Vax Mandate for Corrections Officers
By Brent Johnson
Source nj.com
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday declined a last-ditch request to block Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for correctional officers.
That means state and county correctional offices have until Wednesday to get vaccinated or risk being fired.
The state’s highest court voted 5-2 to deny the state police union’s emergency request to halt Murphy’s order after an appeals court last week dismissed the union’s lawsuit challenging the mandate.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said the union did not show how blocking the mandate was in the public’s interest.
Murphy’s order, issued last month, requires anyone working in “high-risk congregate settings” in New Jersey, including state correctional facilities, to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Under the order, those employees would no longer be allowed to opt out by undergoing regular testing.
But the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association argued in its lawsuit the mandate was government overreach and it came as COVID-19 numbers in the state had begun to decline.
A three-judge appellate panel ruled Friday that the union used a “self-centered construct of ‘jabs vs. jobs’” without considering the harm to society.
By declining to intervene, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision.
William Sullivan, the leader of the PBA Local #105, told the NJ Monitor he is “extremely disappointed.”
“We will continue to fight for members’ rights,” Sullivan added.
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