By Steve Keenan, The Register-Herald
BECKLEY — A Raleigh County Circuit Court judge Thursday granted a preliminary injunction in a religious exemption vaccination case involving both the West Virginia and Raleigh County boards of education.
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael E. Froble issued the preliminary injunction in favor of three Raleigh County parents and their children after a Thursday morning hearing.
A lawsuit was filed on June 23 in Raleigh County Circuit Court on behalf of Miranda Guzman, who was originally granted a vaccine religious exemption so her child could attend school in Raleigh County this fall. The Raleigh County Board of Education later denied the exemption after the state Board of Education issued a directive to county boards to follow existing state law and allow only medical exemptions for vaccinations.
Two other Raleigh parents — Amanda Tolley and Carley Hunter — were added to the suit on July 12 on behalf of their children, according to a representative of Judge Froble’s office. Guzman, Tolley and Hunter are suing the two boards of education after their children were denied religious exemptions granted under Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Executive Order 7-25, which upholds West Virginia’s Equal Protection for Religion Act of 2023 by granting religious exemptions to compulsory vaccine requirements.
