Judge asks for more time to make ruling on West Virginia vaccine exemptions

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WOWK) — The judge in the vaccine religious exemption case did not reach a ruling in Thursday’s hearing, despite expectations that he would.

Judge Michael Froble said in a Raleigh County courtroom that he was not confident enough to make a final decision, given the amount of evidence and testimony to review.

“The court is wanting to take this under advisement,” Froble said. “I don’t believe at this point, I’m ready to make the ruling. I think that would be inappropriate.”

Multiple people took the stand yesterday to discuss their experience and knowledge of the ongoing litigation, including West Virginia Board of Education President Paul Hardesty, who has stood firmly with the board’s position to hold the state’s compulsory vaccination law (W. Va. Code § 16-3-4.)

Shannon McBee, the state’s epidemiologist, also testified. She discussed the mechanics of Governor Patrick Morrisey’s executive order that allowed for the religious exemptions.

The court also heard from two parents yesterday with immunocompromised and/or disabled children in the West Virginia public school system.

The final witness in the hearing, West Virginia health officer Dr. Mark McDaniel, testified today that he was overall unfamiliar with religious exemptions and only dealt with medical exemptions in his job, which he has held for only a few weeks.

When asked for his opinion- both personally and professionally- he said he could not provide one.

“I don’t have a personal opinion,” McDaniel said. “At this point, I’m just new to the job. I really haven’t worked out the data myself.”

All parties made their closing arguments, including counsel representing school boards, parents and health boards.

They discussed a variety of points, including:

• School extracurricular activities without vaccine requirements
• The origin of the compulsory vaccination law (W. Va. Code § 16-3-4.)
• West Virginia legislature involvement
• All parties involved (janitors, custodians, bus drivers, etc.)
• Applying ERPA (Equal Protection for Religion Act)
• Proving that said illnesses were caused by unvaccinated children in the said public school

The hearing was originally expected to end on Thursday, but the court ultimately decided to review further.

Froble instructed all counsel to submit the respective paperwork needed to make the final ruling.

At this time, there is no specific word on when that decision will take place.