A mandatory vaccine ruling by an Ohio federal judge has an unusual group of protestors in the form of pharmacies, including Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.
The pharmacies are defendants in a jury trial on opioid litigation. They are objecting to an order that all prospective jurors in the trial be vaccinated — a condition that could unfairly skew the jury pool because vaccination rates vary by race, gender and political views.
Adhering to the mandate could make it “less likely to reflect a fair cross-section of the community,” the pharmacies say. Specifically, more women and more whites are vaccinated in Ohio, meaning the available jury pool would be more predominantly female and white, as opposed to having a range of males and Asian and African-Americans also included.
The vaccine mandate was handed down by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster; the pharmacies are objecting because there is “no statute, rule or policy requiring juror vaccination, and both the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the National Center for State Courts have shied away from any coronavirus restrictions that might impact juries' composition,” Law 360 said.
SOURCE: Law 360 June 22, 2021