By Steve Keenan, The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Thursday will bring the second day of a hearing on the possible issuance of a permanent injunction in two cases related to school vaccines and religious freedom.
Testimony began Wednesday during a bench trial in the courtroom of Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael E. Froble.
A lawsuit was filed on June 23 in Raleigh County Circuit Court on behalf of Miranda Guzman, who was first granted a vaccine religious exemption so her child could attend school in Raleigh County in the 2025-26 school year. The Raleigh County Board of Education later rescinded the exemption when the West Virginia Board of Education told county school boards to follow existing state law and allow only medical exemptions for vaccinations. Parents of two other Raleigh children were later added to that suit. According to various media reports at the time, the three families sued the two boards of education after their children were denied religious exemptions made possible under Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Executive Order 7-25, an order which upheld West Virginia’s Equal Protection for Religion Act of 2023 by granting religious exemptions to compulsory vaccine requirements.
During Wednesday’s hearing, one of those Raleigh parents was removed from the case.
