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Children's Health Defense, et al. v. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 22-2970 · judgment February 15, 2024


Certiorari denied · June 24, 2024
Pre-decision estimate: 10% cert probability (95% interval 6%–14%)

Before the decision, about 2.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Third Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

  1. Is there a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process or Equal Protection Clauses to exercise informed consent freely and refuse unwanted medical treatment with an experimental vaccine that is not effective at preventing transmission of disease, is not safe and can cause serious injury or death? What standard of review is appropriate under Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), or this Court’s subsequent jurisprudence, when this liberty is at stake?

  2. Did Rutgers University lack expressly delegated authority to mandate experimental vaccines during an outbreak that were not effective, or safe, upon its students – even students attending classes remotely – while excluding professors or employees from the mandate?

  3. Did Rutgers University’s mandate conflict with Section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3, which requires “that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed . . . of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product . . . ”?

  4. Were the courts below bound to accept as true the following facts, among others, plead by Petitioners? a. COVID-19 vaccines are experimental injections; b. COVID-19 vaccines were never tested for and are not effective at preventing infection or transmission of disease;

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Julio Cesar Gomez
Julio C. Gomez Attorney at Law LLC

For respondent
Jeffrey Samuel Jacobson
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jun 24 2024
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 10 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons filed. (Distributed)
  3. Jun 04 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/20/2024.
  4. May 29 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent Rutgers, et al. to respond filed.
  5. May 15 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 20, 2024)