WASHINGTON (TND) — Following the Supreme Court ending President Joe Biden's nationwide mandate for businesses, the debate for vaccines and mask mandates continues as employers establish their own set of rules demanding vaccines, masks, and COVID tests.
According to a new survey by Gartner, 30% of employers currently are or will require employees to get vaccinated.
“It's up to the states and it's up to the federal government,” said former Harvard Law School professor and New York Times bestselling author Alan Dershowitz to The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. “If you're going to have mandates, the decision has to be made by the legislature, not the executive. And so if you have legislative authorization for companies firing people if they don't take the vaccine, that may well be upheld.”
But if you don’t have the legislative authorization, Dershowitz said, “the courts will probably strike it down.”
When it comes to vaccine and mask mandates at the state or employer level, Dershowitz said the issue is “very much in flux.”
“Don't count on existing law to give a clear answer today,” said Dershowitz. “The governor, the president, the mayor can't make you have a shot. The legislature maybe they can, maybe they can't, we don't know. We know that the executive authority can't do that.”
Newly elected Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order on his first day doing away with mask mandates specifically in schools. Seven Virginia school districts are now suing the governor in response.
“It is time to adjust our approach to the coronavirus emergency, while considering vaccinations, natural immunity, and the adverse mental and physical health effects on children. A path through the end of this pandemic is possible while also respecting individual freedom and choice. We can keep kids in school, provide a parental opt-out to mask mandates, and protect lives and livelihoods,” said Youngkin in a recent Washington Post op-ed.
“When you get the governor of Virginia saying one thing, the governor of New York saying one thing, the governor of California, the governor of Texas, the President saying different things. They're all reasonable,” said Dershowitz. “That's why we have legislatures in a democracy. And thus far Congress has abdicated its responsibility. They have not passed legislation. And until they do, everybody's going to remain confused.”