On January 13th, 2022, the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring private businesses to vaccinate or test employees for COVID-19. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that OSHA would not be able to enforce or fine any private business for not enforcing vaccines or testing on their employees.
Conservative news and entertainment entity “The Daily Wire” has probably been the most vocal in the fight against the various mandates brought in by the Biden Administration, and when the 6th Circuit overruled a stay on the mandates by the 5th Circuit until a decision could be reached, there was no choice. The Daily Wire took their lawsuit to the Supreme Court on December 20th, 2021.
Incredibly, and in a very rare decision when pending court cases are underway or scheduled, Justice Kavanaugh stated that the Supreme Court would hear oral arguments from the Daily Wire’s attorneys on January 7th, 2022. This news signaled the potential for a win. Thanks to a mostly conservative or constitutional leaning within the Justices, it was believed by Jeremy Boreing, Co-Founder of The Daily Wire, that their lawsuit was constitutionally grounded.
On January 7th, oral arguments were heard. The Justices each took moments to speak to both sides, and even discussed and debated with one another. Taking notes, Fox reported Justice Sotomayor’s position, some of her questions, and her comments.
Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers, representing the coalition of GOP-led states opposing the OSHA rules, was quizzed by Justice Sotomayor on the mandates — which she again said was not a mandate.
She objected to his claim that Omicron represented a new situation than Delta, given its lesser severity in many instances, as well as his claim that vaccines appeared to be less effective at stopping transmission.
Sotomayor pointed to increased hospitalizations and said that “those numbers show that omicron is just as deadly for the unvaccinated.”
“We have over 100,000 children, which we’ve never had before, in serious condition and many on ventilators,” she said.
Justice Thomas, meanwhile, asks Flowers to speak more about the different risks and the vaccine’s effectiveness at stopping transmission.
He cites data saying vaccinated over 65s are twice as likely to die as 18-49 who are unvaccinated.
Sotomayor fires back and accuses him of “comparing apples to oranges” and says “lower risk is not no risk.” She also says that the unvaccinated put other people at risk.
The libs on the Supreme Court- Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor- have a very poor understanding of COVID risks, which keeps coming through in shockingly dumb statements like “omicron is as dangerous as delta” and “children are on ventilators”
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) January 7, 2022
The Daily Wire almost immediately rebutted on all the things that Justice Sotomayor was wrong about. First off, Omicron is not nearly as deadly according to the “real-world” data that is currently out. Furthermore, despite what Sotomayor thinks or said at the time, while the vaccine may decrease symptoms or “severity of cases”, data suggests that it doesn’t “prevent transmission of the virus to other people”.
The Daily Wire continued:
On Wednesday, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that “multiple sources of now-preliminary data indicate a decrease severity with Omicron.”
“Fauci cited a study from Ontario, Canada, that found the risk of hospitalization or death was 65% lower among people infected with omicron compared with individuals who caught delta. The risk of admission to an intensive care unit or death from omicron was 83% lower, according to the study,” CNBC reported.
It should also be noted that Fauci had previously claimed that hospitals and the government were likely not differentiating children who were hospitalized “because” of COVID-19 vs. children who were hospitalized “with” COVID-19 but were primarily there for another reason — for example, a broken leg or arm.
After the arguments were made, everyone was on pins and needles waiting to hear what would be decided. Today that decision was reached and announced.
Below are a few reactions.
We at the Daily Wire are proud that we refused to comply with the Biden vaccine mandate from the start, and that we were the first company in America to file our constitutional challenge to it. And we rejoice with you at the Supreme Court’s eminently correct ruling today.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 13, 2022
The vaccine mandate was not only blatantly unconstitutional, it also had no scientific basis given that the vaxxed still spread the virus. It was illegal, illogical, and immoral. And now it is dead. Rejoice.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 13, 2022
BREAKING: The Supreme Court BLOCKS Joe Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate on businesses. But it upheld his vaccine mandate on health care workers.
We can’t stop fighting until the ENTIRE vaccine mandate is thrown into the garbage heap of history where it belongs.
— Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) January 13, 2022
BREAKING: The Supreme Court BLOCKS the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirement for large workplaces. The court ALLOWS a vaccine mandate for workers at federally funded health care facilities to take effect nationwide.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) January 13, 2022
This story syndicated with permission from The Liberty Leader