Supreme Court blocks workplace vaccine requirements, allows requirement for health-care workers

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Washington Post

The Supreme Court on Thursday stopped the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement on the nation’s largest employers, expressing doubt that there is legal authority for such a broad mandate.

But the court allowed a different policy, which requires vaccinations for most health-care workers at the facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh were the only members of the court in the majority of both orders.

The White House said the order covered about 17 million health-care workers, while the requirement on large companies would have covered more than 80 million employees, about two-thirds of the American workforce

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-biden-vaccine-rules/2022/01/13/2e6e4b9e-749e-11ec-bc13-18891499c514_story.html

[onecaliberal]

1. This will make sure it keeps going.

Fuck the fascists.

[gab13by13]

8. Careful,

I just got hammered this morning for bashing our Supreme Court.

[onecaliberal]

9. Idgaf I got two hides a few months back for saying Manchin is owned.

Now that stories have come out conforming, it’s okay to say it. I’m just calling a spade, a spade.

[gab13by13]

13. I am 100% with you.

I had 2 ridiculous alerts on me that I argued away. I'm just saying there are people here who work together.

I can't wait for this fascist court to protect Trump from the release of the White House communications.

This court is chosen by the Federalist Society. The FBI never investigated info on beer boy, Clarence Thomas' wife is involved in right wing fascist organizations. Gorsuch appears to be Clarence Thomas' twin separated at birth, but if I even suggest we should add 4 more justices I guarantee you I will get hammered here.

[onecaliberal]

30. Yeah there is a group for sure.

[C Moon]

53. From what I know, you shouldn't be bad-mouthing DU while on DU.

Maybe that's the problem.
But I didn't see your posts, so I can't confirm.
Most of us have been warned or deleted here.

[Hekate]

71. Bingo

[PatSeg]

17. Yeah, well I spewed some choice profanities

when I saw the headline in my emails.

Can you imagine THIS Supreme Court during World War II, when we had blackouts and rationing? In times of emergencies, we are all required to make sacrifices and government may ask more of us. After 9/11 there was a lot of government overreach that certainly infringed on people's freedoms, but most people accepted it at the time. Extraordinary measures for extraordinary times.

This is insane. How many people have to get sick or die?

Sorry for the rant, but I'm still mad.

[gab13by13]

20. Our democratic government is fading away.

[PatSeg]

22. Yes, so it seems

That has come up several times today. Republicans (with the help of Putin) certainly have managed to destroy any and everything that is good in this country.

[onecaliberal]

32. It's essentially gone save for the drapes.

[Irish_Dem]

28. The US would still be a German colony if the WWII GOP had been like it is today.

[PatSeg]

79. Probably

[Hekate]

72. I remember not only the USAPATRIOTACT, but the hysteria over AIDS...

RW in this country is unspeakable.

[PatSeg]

80. And they are the ones who call themselves

true Americans, while accusing Democrats of being unpatriotic if they aren't wearing a flag pin. They are all about symbols and lip service.

[ShazamIam]

77. Then like now many of our conservative and wealthiest favored the Nazis. Names like Dow Chem, Ford,

GM, Alcoa and many others.

[PatSeg]

82. Corporations are beholden to no country

Well, unless it serves their profit margin. A lot of people don't realize how many people in America were fascists back in the thirties and a lot of companies made a fortune off of the war.

[rockfordfile]

86. They will and should be blamed for any continued up swing covid infections rate

I think the SC fked up.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. .pdf

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pdf

[Hekate]

3. This country is so screwed

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Here's a CNBC one

Supreme Court blocks Biden Covid vaccine mandate for businesses, allows health-care worker rule

Published Thu, Jan 13 20222:30 PM ESTU pdated Moments Ago

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies, but allowed similar requirements to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency measure started to take effect.

That mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees must get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work.

“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,” the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.

“Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category,” the court wrote.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/13/supreme-court-ruling-biden-covid-vaccine-mandates.html

[William Seger]

27. Absurd!

"Requiring the vaccination..." OR WEEKLY TESTING, assholes.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. Well this part is an option at some point in the far future

“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,”

I.e., all Congress has to do is pass a law (and/or amend an existing one) to explicitly address viral hazards.

Of course that requires a whole big pile of Democrats in control to even get something like that through but the solution is there.

[orleans]

40. or WEARING A MASK IF YOU'RE NOT VAXED???

it would make me want to quit my job so i wasn't around the major spreaders

[gab13by13]

5. Ah yes, our beloved Supreme Court,

Our fantastic SC allowed Trump to ban Muslims into the country because its reasoning was that a principal duty of a president is to protect the people from harm.

I guess protecting them from real harm and not perceived harm are 2 different things.

[Nasruddin]

50. Get rid of it

Maybe people will start to wise up!

We don't need this unaccountable, lifetime appointment legislature.
It solves no problems.

Don't reform it, get rid of it. Strip it of associate justices, limit its power to strictly named constitutional duties, something.
It has been a bad idea thruout our history, no matter what side you are on.

[Escurumbele]

63. Agreed, wise words that must be heard everywhere...you are correct, they have too much power.

All the rules have to be revised, everything the founding fathers did was with the assumption that honest, moral people would seek public office, but we know that is not the case, the rules must be changed to safeguard the country from these monsters.

The presidential pardon must also be changed. A president should not be able to pardon crooks.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

74. ** Cough, cough ** Perhaps you are not aware of this thing we have in this country called

the Constitution.

Let me help you: https://www.google.com/search?q=us+constitution

I think I broke Google. There were 317,000,000 results.

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription

Scroll down to Article III. I think you'll see where the court system is established.

What you propose:

Get rid of it

Maybe people will start to wise up!

We don't need this unaccountable, lifetime appointment legislature.
It solves no problems.

Don't reform it, get rid of it. Strip it of associate justices, limit its power to strictly named constitutional duties, something.
It has been a bad idea thruout our history, no matter what side you are on.

is not really going to happen.

HTH

Happy New Year.

[Hekate]

81. No

Thank you

[rockfordfile]

87. I agree

[dickthegrouch]

6. I'll go there

FUCKING IDIOTS!!!!!
The public good far outweighs any possible “harm” from the mandates.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. The control of the SCOTUS was on the ballot in 2016

We are seeing the effect of not caring about the control of the SCOTUS. Thank Jill Stein and Susan Sarandon

[JohnSJ]

39. Yup, and there were more people than just those two

[LetMyPeopleVote]

41. You know who could have saved America from this clusterfuck of a Supreme Court?

Link to tweet

[JohnSJ]

42. +++

[Hekate]

83. Yes! But Dems, Progressives, Greens, etc. tie themselves in knots to "send a message to the DNC"...

… so they vote for Nader, and Sarandon, and Stein, and they’ll vote for Yang soon enough.

[NewHendoLib]

10. We. Are. So. Utterly and completely fucked up. And fucked

[lapfog_1]

11. some number of thousands of people

wlll die in the next 8 weeks because of something that happened 5 years ago.

[tishaLA]

12. SCOTUS is hella good at discovering new limits to executive power

as long as the President is a Democrat. Democratic Presidents, as the "Remain in Mexico" ruling demonstrates, even have to abide by the executive policies of previous administrations rather than by their own.

[FBaggins]

24. There's nothing new on this one

The president knew that it was a longshot when he asked for the policy. Just like the eviction moratorium he knew that it was likely to fail but felt that a few months of the policy being in force (or pending in this case) could save some lives.

But there's nothing new about saying that states have the power to mandate vaccines and the federal government (not just the executive) generally do not. That's a century old or more.

[Historic NY]

14. I'm glad they are taking resposibility for the virus....

When business' start shutting down. I still don't go out to eat because all the old rules just seem to have gone on the wayside.

[NCjack]

38. A lot of people will die, but they did something unintentionally --

they gave Pres. Biden cover and took to themselves the future course of the pandemic. Let's hang it around there facists necks.

[Marthe48]

15. Pres. Biden sending military medical teams to 6 states

The Law really is an ass. Especially when r's decide.

[benfranklin1776]

37. Bingo!

And we’re seeing the real time crippling breakdowns in essential services from the human COVID carnage this mandate was intended to prevent by protecting the HEALTH of workers 😡So any ignoramus that wants to blame President Biden for “not stopping the pandemic” and disruption of society that mass infection is predictably and foreseeably causing can kiss our asses, just like the majority of the Supreme Court did to the billionaire class puppeteers who installed them. 🤬🖕🖕

[gab13by13]

16. Those voter suppression/discrimination laws that the GQP has passed,

which are being challenged in the courts by Marc Elias, anyone want to bet that this SC rules that states have an absolute right to run their own elections?

[Metaphorical]

78. No

Historically (and even with this court) they have chosen from taking positions regarding state vs. federal election rights, largely at the behest of Justice Roberts. Significantly, Kavenough sided with Roberts on both the company and health care mandates, and historically he's been siding with Roberts on a pretty regular basis. even when in opposition to the conservative bench.

Personally, I think it's a tactical mistake for Biden to be trying to push Voting Rights at this stage. His majority in both houses is just too slim, and he can't afford to alienate both Manchin and Sinema. On the other hand, I think Sinema is more likely to defect to the Republicans than Manchin, but I also think that if she did Lisa Murkowski would go independent and caucus with the Democrats.

[left-of-center2012]

18. Remember: Mitch McConnell blocked Obama's SC nominee

[Igel]

76. Which would have made the decision 5-4. n/t

[Tarc]

19. I'd have to agree with this, really

OSHA does not have the authority to do this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. Covid is the leading cause of death for police officers, a supposedly-dangerous occupation

https://www.wgbh.org/news/news/2022/01/12/covid-was-again-the-leading-cause-of-death-among-u-s-law-enforcement-in-2021

Covid is a workplace health danger. And that includes in 2021, when some police officers were vaccinated.

[oldsoftie]

36. I agree. The businesses should do it on their OWN & not wimp out.

They want the govt to take the fall FOR them.
Some companies have made their employees quit smoking. I doubt the courts would allow OSHA to force that. My former company has mandated the vax. So it CAN be done

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

68. Except they can't in Florida and I believe Texas.

[oldsoftie]

93. Of curse they can. The State has no more power over it than the feds do.

Fl tried to stop Norwegian Cruise lines from requiring vaccinations and they lost that. Some concert venues are requiring it or tests as well

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

94. Disney put their restrictions on hold because of Florida law

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/health/disney-vaccine-mandate-florida-ban.html

[oldsoftie]

95. Thats on Disney if they cower to Ron. Norwegian won in court & now require it.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/judge-blocks-florida-law-that-prevents-cruise-lines-from-requiring-proof-of-vaccination

[Salviati]

21. The "conservatives" in this country are no longer a political party...

... they're a death cult.

[ananda]

25. They've been that way for the last five years.

Nothing's changed.

[Johonny]

23. They don't care if you live or die.

They are a death cult.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. One thought -

and it comes down to "the bottom line". When your large corporations start losing money due to employees out sick or who have sadly died due to this pandemic, then some (not all) will often make an attempt to not go bankrupt and add their own mandates. It's actually "cheaper" for them to put the onus on the employee versus undergoing the proper capital improvements in the the workplace (e.g., ventilation, workspace modifications for distancing, and other things) that can mitigate spread. And some actually did put vaccine mandates in place before the federal mandate was actually "officially announced".

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. This #SupremeCourt ruling is just plain stupid

Link to tweet

[Jose Garcia]

33. The Court ruled that Congrees hasn't given the government this authority

So the question is, will Congress even attempt to pass a bill to do this, or will the just let it go like they did with the eviction moratorium?

[DallasNE]

35. SCOTUS Can Now Be Blamed For Final Outcome Of Covid-19

They have asserted that they have the expertise to determine that Covid-19 is not a workplace health hazard.

They assert that this order is "a significant encroachment into the lives—and health—of" an employee. While true that is also the case with this ruling that strikes down this order so how can that be the basis for this order? The logic sucks. The logic is also very weak when they assert that OSHA has never before imposed such a standard. The last I looked Covid-19 is the first pandemic to strike since the OSHA law was enacted. With such weak reasoning this, boils down to a political decision coming from a non-elected body.

[orleans]

43. agree. thank you n/t

[DBoon]

51. a non-elected body controlled by a political minority

[mahatmakanejeeves]

75. H1N1?

The last I looked Covid-19 is the first pandemic to strike since the OSHA law was enacted.

2009 swine flu pandemic in the United States

[DallasNE]

84. That Was Classified As A Pandemic?

I remember that being contained within a region in the US. Yes, it was bad where it hit but it was nothing like what we are facing today. Nothing.i

Edit
From Wikipedia - the Swine Flu was classified as a pandemic. They then go on to say "A study done in September 2010 showed that the risk of serious illness resulting from the 2009 H1N1 flu was no higher than that of the yearly seasonal flu"

[LoisB]

44. Occupational Safety and HEALTH Administration. If the government can not mandate

vaccinations, why can it mandate vaccinations for entry into school? At this rate, we will never get past this pandemic. While we're at it, let's bring back smallpox, polio, ...

[Slammer]

45. OSHA

OSHA is specifically empowered, by multiple acts of Congress, to pass rules to protect workplaces from diseases.

If the Supreme Court thinks that OSHA has no legal authority to do what Congress has specifically mandated that it do, let's just defund OSHA and do away with it altogether.

Because none of the other things that OSHA does has any more legal authority than the legal authority given to it to protect workplaces from diseases.

So long OSHA, been nice to know ya.

[Metaphorical]

46. This is already backfiring on businesses, and will snowball

I personally would have been surprised if the SCOTUS had upheld the mandate, but at this point, it really doesn't matter. Companies that mandate vaccines for their employees already have fewer people out, and fewer people quitting, than the ones that don't.

Something to keep in mind. Since March 2020 when Covid first appeared, the average age of mortality in the US has fallen to 77.2 years from 79.4. In several red states, the mortality has dropped by more than five years. Combine that with the fact that people in red states are on average about five years older than people in blue states, which means that far more people in Red states are now dropping out of the workforce altogether either due to retirement or permanent disability, what you're now seeing is that businesses in most blue states cannot get enough workers to stay operational.

In a way, I almost hope that the Red States do decide to secede. The way things are going now, the cost of keeping Red America functional is higher than the Blue States can afford.

[orleans]

47. i want to say i can't believe they did this but when you think about who some of

them are on that court... of course they did this

[aggiesal]

48. Welcome to our new reality ...

Thanks Obama!
Do I need the sarcasm thingee for Obama?

[BlueIdaho]

49. Expect to see employee insurance costs skyrocket

For unvaccinated employees. Businesses are going to pass along the costs of treatment the same way they charge more for employees that smoke, don’t exercise, and have dozens of other negative personal behaviors.

[Raven123]

52. So SCOTUS wants make sure they are protected if one them is hospitalized. All others can eat cake

[Mr.Bill]

54. Does anyone know if this includes

the vaccine requirement for the military?

[madville]

62. It will have no effect, OSHA has no jurisdiction over the military

The military has never had to abide by OSHA regulations. My city municipal job is not under OSHA’s jurisdiction either, there are no plans here to mandate the vaccine and we have 1000+ employees….

[Mr.Bill]

66. Good. Thanks. n/t

[iemanja]

56. Murderers

Is what they are.

[cstanleytech]

57. Seems the way to go about it is via any contractor receiving federal monies needs to comply or risk

being cut off and furthermore by x date they must also source as many of their supplies as possible from companies that has a vaccine requirement.

[bucolic_frolic]

58. Pee-in-cup vs. vaccine mandate

These are 2 very different approaches to workplace requirements

[iemanja]

67. Peeing in the cup is an employers requirement

not a federal government one. The court ruled that OSHA overstepped its authority, absent congressional authorization. Don't get me wrong, I disagree strongly with today's ruling. I'm just pointing out that your analogy doesn't deal with the same circumstances.

[bucolic_frolic]

69. SCOTUS has never outlawed drug testing.

[iemanja]

70. apples to oranges

again, it's about a federal mandate over employers compared to an employer's choice.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

91. I believe that the Federal Railroad Administration requires that employers, that is,

the carriers, perform regular drug testing on personnel in the operating department.

I can look it up.

[Tree Lady]

59. What happens with the military?

That already got kicked out?

[madville]

60. OSHA has no authority over the military regardless

They are specifically exempted so no OSHA regulations would have any effect on the military mandate.

[Escurumbele]

61. This could have been prevented if this administration had upped the number of judges in the Supreme

Court.

Also, get rid of the electoral college, that way republicans cannot choose their electors, no need for electors if there is no EC...

Electoral College makes it so easy to cheat, they only have to worry about seven states, not 50.

[Polybius]

88. How so?

Adding judges would be filibustered, so that's 60 votes needed. Removing the EC would take 67, and 38 states.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

64. Striking a blow for free dumb

[melm00se]

65. The Court held that OSHA exceeded

its authority:

It held that the mandate likely exceeded OSHA’s statutory authority, raised separation-of powers concerns in the absence of a clear delegation from Congress, and was not properly tailored to the risks facing different types of workers and workplaces.

Or, in other words, OSHA (an Executive Department) was making law something delegated to the Legislative Branch.

I would like to remind folks who have complained about "imperial" presidents, OSHA acting in the way they did falls into that category.

[paleotn]

73. Lest we forget. Past SCOTUS rulings gave us Dred Scott and Separate but not Equal.

Seems for every Brown v Board there's 2 fuck ups.

[DBoon]

85. While there have been bad rulings before

This one will directly cause the deaths of many thousands of people over the next months

[turbinetree]

89. Well since this court basically went after public safety in the work place....

next up Social Security and Medicare......

[J_William_Ryan]

90. This is just the beginning.

In the coming years and decades expect more such rulings which seek to dismantle necessary, proper regulatory policy that keeps working Americans safe and consumers protected from unscrupulous corporations and business owners.

Like this ruling, future rulings will be based on wrongheaded conservative economic dogma hostile to appropriate, warranted regulatory policy reflecting the will of the people.

[Brainfodder]

92. So the stooge level Americans win out over what's actually the best option?

Or is this just status quo BS?

Never ending status quo BS.....

[ck4829]

96. Kick

[orangecrush]

97. And the looneys win

Another round.