KANE / KEIL / NYFRL Oral Arguments Morning of October 11

October 11, 9am:

Non-Denominational Prayer Vigil at Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in Support of Religious Exemption to Vaccination

by Michael Kane

10-1-22

Our cases fighting for the right to religious exemption to vaccination are currently in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments will be heard on October 11 at 10 am in the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse in downtown Manhattan across from Foley Square. We will be holding a non-denominational prayer vigil in support of a positive outcome for religious exemption to vaccination in New York and America.

We gather at 9 am in Foley Square

Here are some of the details:

• This is not a rally but a peaceful gathering of faith
• We respectfully request no signs be brought to this moment of prayer
• ALL faiths are welcome including agnostics, skeptics and atheists

About our cases:

The KANE & KEIL cases represent NYC Educators who were unconstitutionally denied a religious exemption to vaccination. These cases were recently dismissed with prejudice from the Southern District Federal Court by Justice Naomi Buchwald. After this dismissal our attorneys appealed to the 2nd Circuit.

New Yorkers for Religious Liberty (NYFRL) represents all employees of New York City. Their case filed in the 2nd Circuit Court of appeals at the same time as KANE / KEIL. Because of this, the attorneys (who are the same on all cases) requested all three cases be consolidated into one case, and the court has granted that request. Now they all move as one.

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After our cases are argued on October 11 in front of a 3 judge panel, those judges will likely be deciding the case on its merits. The 2nd Circuit Justices could rule with us or against us. If they rule against us, our attorneys will likely appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). While KANE / KEIL has appealed to SCOTUS once before, that appeal related to an injunction as opposed to a final ruling. Now that we have a final ruling in the lower court (dismissed with prejudice), if we are ruled against in the 2nd Circuit we can still appeal to SCOTUS on either regular or emergency basis if necessary.

For the October 11 oral argument, John Bursch will be flying in to NYC to argue as the lead attorney of our case. Bursch is with the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) which has recently joined our cases as co-counsel. ADF is one of the most successful law firms in the country when it comes to arguing religious liberty cases in front of SCOTUS.

The co-councils on our cases are Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the Gibson Law Firm (working with CHD), and Nelson, Madden & Black.