Eight students from Indiana University (IU) filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Monday against the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying the mandate …
Eight students from Indiana University (IU) filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Monday against the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying the mandate is unconstitutional and violates Indiana’s ban on vaccine passports. The Bopp Law Firm represented the eight students and sued the board of trustees—the IU’s governing body and legal owner. “IU’s Mandate violates the constitutional rights of IU’s students—it requires all IU students without any meaningful exemptions to take the COVID vaccine,” lead counsel James Bopp said in a statement, noting that no government entity and no other Indiana public university requires a COVID-19 vaccination. “This kind of total disregard for student freedom to choose for themselves, for student’s bodily autonomy, and for the need for voluntary and informed consent cannot stand under the U.S. Constitution,” Bopp added. On May 21, 2021, IU notified all faculty, staff, and students through email that there would be a requirement to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for the fall semester. Failing to do so will result in students’ class registrations being canceled, their university-issued IDs terminated, and being prohibited from any on-campus activity. Faculty and staff who do not comply will “no longer be able to be employed” by IU. “Approved exemptions will be extremely limited to a very narrow set of criteria,” the university’s website reads.
