By Steven Allen Adams for The Inter-Mountain
CHARLESTON – The West Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of two parents Friday seeking to block an executive order by Gov. Patrick Morrisey allowing for religious exemptions to the state school-age immunization program.
Attorneys for the ACLU-WV and Mountain State Justice are representing two parents — Marisa Jackson and Dr. Joshua A. Hess — seeking a writ of mandamus from the Kanawha County Circuit Court directing the Governor’s Office to abide by the state’s mandatory immunization program for children entering public and private schools.
The lawsuit also asks Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard for a declaration finding that Morrisey’s executive order is unlawful or invalid, as well as seeking attorney’s fees and costs.
State Code requires children attending school to show proof of immunization for diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B unless proof of a medical exemption can be shown.
