Tuesday May 7th: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court and granted a preliminary injunction blocking the University of Colorado’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate religious exemption policy in Doe v. Board of Regents of University of Colorado. The plaintiffs, former employees and students at the University of Colorado Anschutz Campus, alleged that the university’s policy violated their First Amendment rights because it only allowed exemptions for individuals who could prove their religious beliefs were based on religious teachings that prohibit all vaccines. Campus administrators explained this policy by stating that it was “‘morally acceptable’ for Roman Catholics to take vaccines against COVID-19” but that Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses would qualify for an exemption. Administrators also refused exemptions for applicants who professed Buddhist, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical, and non-denominational Protestant beliefs, explaining that because these religions did not prohibit all vaccinations, plaintiffs’ beliefs were personal and not religious.
The Tenth Circuit found these policies to be categorically unconstitutional violations of the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, as well as having an apparent and obvious animus toward religion. Thus, the court held that the plaintiffs had shown a significant enough likelihood of success on the merits to grant a preliminary injunction. The Court also rejected the Administration’s claims of mootness for most of the plaintiffs because although the Administration later changed its policies toward religious exemptions, plaintiffs who had not been re-evaluated for rehire or back pay under those new policies still had viable claims.