Three Days Late, the Supreme Court Strikes Down OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate

Brownstone Institute ^ | January 13, 2022 | Brownstone Institute

[Heartlander]

Three Days Late, the Supreme Court Strikes Down OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate

On January 10, 2022, businesses across America with more than 100 employees were in compliance with OSHA by demanding their workers get vaccinated or submit to unrelenting testing that is mostly unavailable at the time of this writing. Workers across the country have been fired from their jobs for not submitting.

While waiting for the courts to come up with a definitive decision, HR departments around the country have imposed the mandate.

Three days following the imposition of the edict, the Supreme Court has finally issued its opinion. In a 6-3 decision, the Court has struck down the mandate. The PDF is embedded below.

While the court struck down the broad mandate, in a separate opinion decided on a 5-4 vote, it has kept a federal regulation pertaining to federally funded health-care facilities. The dissenting opinions in this case had even stronger language. 

Here are some quotes from the main opinion on OSHA:

Permitting OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life—simply because most Americans have jobs and face those same risks while on the clock—would significantly expand OSHA’s regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization….

It is telling that OSHA, in its half century of existence, has never before adopted a broad public health regulation of this kind—addressing a threat that is untethered, in any causal sense, from the workplace….

We are told by the States and the employers that OSHA’s mandate will force them to incur billions of dollars in unrecoverable compliance costs and will cause hundreds of thousands of employees to leave their jobs….

Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees….

Justice Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion with tougher language, and Justices Thomas and Alito joined in signing: 

Yet that is precisely what the agency seeks to do now—regulate not just what happens inside the workplace but induce individuals to undertake a medical procedure that affects their lives outside the workplace. Historically, such matters have been regulated at the state level by authorities who enjoy broader and more general governmental powers. Meanwhile, at the federal level, OSHA arguably is not even the agency most associated with public health regulation.…

On the one hand, OSHA claims the power to issue a nationwide mandate on a major question but cannot trace its authority to do so to any clear congressional mandate. On the other hand, if the statutory subsection the agency cites really did endow OSHA with the power it asserts, that law would likely constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. Under OSHA’s reading, the law would afford it almost unlimited discretion…

We do not impugn the intentions behind the agency’s mandate. Instead, we only discharge our duty to enforce the law’s demands when it comes to the question who may govern the lives of 84 million Americans. Respecting those demands may be trying in times of stress. But if this Court were to abide them only in more tranquil conditions, declarations of emergencies would never end and the liberties our Constitution’s separation of powers seeks to preserve would amount to little.

supremecourtOSHA

[Luke21]

And allows the war on health care workers to continue.

[Reno89519]

So, will companies hire back their fired workers or face wrongful termination lawsuits? I hope so! I have no similar sympathy for anyone that quit as they quit; and have no recourse except maybe to apply for new work at their former employer, losing seniority and such.

[Reno89519]

So, will these medical facilities close, reduce hours, or as the state and feds to fill in for fired staff?

[fwdude]

OSHA needs to be abolished along with its fascist DOL agency (among several others.) The next real conservative President needs to do this.

[gitmo]

Workers across the country have been fired from their jobs for not submitting.

Call up all those people we fired this week and tell them. “never mind‼️“

[Grampa Dave]

Justice Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion with tougher language, and Justices Thomas and Alito joined in signing: Yet that is precisely what the agency seeks to do now—regulate not just what happens inside the workplace but induce individuals to undertake a medical procedure that affects their lives outside the workplace. Historically, such matters have been regulated at the state level by authorities who enjoy broader and more general governmental powers. Meanwhile, at the federal level, OSHA arguably is not even the agency most associated with public health regulation.…

On the one hand, OSHA claims the power to issue a nationwide mandate on a major question but cannot trace its authority to do so to any clear congressional mandate. On the other hand, if the statutory subsection the agency cites really did endow OSHA with the power it asserts, that law would likely constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. Under OSHA’s reading, the law would afford it almost unlimited discretion…

We do not impugn the intentions behind the agency’s mandate. Instead, we only discharge our duty to enforce the law’s demands when it comes to the question who may govern the lives of 84 million Americans. Respecting those demands may be trying in times of stress. But if this Court were to abide them only in more tranquil conditions, declarations of emergencies would never end and the liberties our Constitution’s separation of powers seeks to preserve would amount to little. ------------------------------------------------------------

The SC has long forgotten their role in government. It is not their job to solve the problems of the country - social, economic, environmental or political. Their job is to rule on the constitutionality of the actions taken by the government.

The intent of these unconstitutional actions doesn’t matter. The consequences of striking down these unconstitutional actions don’t matter. It is not their job to find a way to reimagine these unconstitutional actions in a constitutional way.

#15 posted on 1/13/2022, 8:46:56 AM by throwthebumsout

[Wasichu]

Now we wait to see if Biden has the guts to stretch the second ruling to include anyone getting medicare/Medicaid. Maybe even social security?

We might finally see a revolt. But...the majority of those people are old and may be feeble.

[eyeamok]

NO LAWYERS will Be Treated at this Facility, if you are a Lawyer or a Judicial Officer and enter our Facility, we will Call the Police and have you ARRESTED for Trespassing.

Problem Solved.

[Newbomb Turk]

We might finally see a revolt. But...the majority of those people are old and may be feeble.

But not all of us. And some of us have a very nasty skillset.

[dynoman]

The problem wasn’t OSHA, it was BIDEN.

[WMarshal]

The Supreme Court is despicable because of the fact that they knew within a few weeks that the OSHA vaccine mandates were unconstitutional. They just wanted to split-the-baby and let Biden force as many to take the clot-shots as he could before they slow walked their decision in.

[dljordan]

“We do not impugn the intentions behind the agency’s mandate.”

Please.

[Boogieman]

“While waiting for the courts to come up with a definitive decision, HR departments around the country have imposed the mandate.”

Well, there has been a stay on the OSHA order, for some time now. So any HR department that implemented this did so because they wanted to, not because they were required to by any legal authority. They also bear full legal liability for any harm that derives from their decision to mandate these injections, since they were not forced to do so by any legal authority.

[Gnome1949]

It won’t be just the elderly. THEIR CHILDREN WILL BE UP IN ARMS and they CAN and WILL fight this in the streets.

I say, “Go ahead and take Social Security and Medicare away from the un-jabbed seniors and see what happens.”

Make seniors destitute and penniless and then hurry and find a deep hole to hide in.

[Boogieman]

“We do not impugn the intentions behind the agency’s mandate.”

That’s alright, I’ll impugn them for you Gorsuch. I’ll impugn them all day long.

[jughandle]

On a personal note, this would be the 4th time I would have got this shot. Two scheduled appointments early on...first our kid got sick at school, second my trucks brake line let’s go in the driveway, third the tech had an emergency and left, and now this. Ever feel someone’s been looking out for you and just reinforced it, especially since this mandate wasn’t a choice?

[stormhill]

I hope so too but doubt anything coming out any branch of government could ever be so clear cut. Such people thrive in the fog of chaos and ambiguity.

[The Sentient Sheep]

“expand regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization”
Well folks, that’s the name of the game lately where the legislative process is just an annoying impediment to the commies to get their way. We are well on the path for 2 YEARS now where the rule of law is replaced by edicts and mandates with out question or real resistance. The public better man up real fast before it goes any farther.

[rarestia]

The ruling stays the implementation. It doesn’t do away with it. It also says nothing about the right of an employer to mandate vaccination. Woke companies that implemented a vaccine requirement are not being compelled to reverse that requirement. That wasn’t what OSHA’s ETS was about anyway.

Be thankful SCOTUS didn’t say anything about private mandates. That would set a dangerous precedent. Government has no business compelling any entity to do anything they don’t want, even if their decision is garbage.