Montana passed a statute during the height of COVID that prohibited anyone from requiring vaccination; e.g., for employment or to enter an establishment. "This means that a private pediatrician cannot ensure that her staff is vaccinated for measles before interacting with newborn patients;[FN] a geriatric specialist cannot ensure influenza or shingles vaccinations; and an HIV clinic cannot ensure bacterial pneumonia vaccination. [FN:] The Center for Disease Control explains, 'Measles is highly contagious. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected.'"
The Montana Medical Association sued, claiming that Montana's statute was preempted by federal law. The district court agreed. Today, the Ninth Circuit reverses.
Judge McKeown writes a super interesting concurrence, by the way, that discusses at length the Supreme Court's oft-criticized jurisprudence regarding facial challenges. For those readers who aren't already well-versed in this field, I highly recommend it. It's scholarly -- almost like a law review article -- much much, much more concise: ten pages total. Definitely worth a read.
