Another sign of the times: a federal judge has mandated COVID vaccination as a condition of bail. Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted bail to Elouisa Pimental, who is facing charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, but mandated she get the coronavirus inoculation.
As reported by Law.com, Rakoff’s order said he had “ample” authority to impose vaccination on Pimental. Judge Rakoff compared the requirement to mandated drug screening and mental-health evaluations, which judges do all the time. This condition is designed to “protect our communities and the most vulnerable among us from the worst risks of COVID-19.”
“If a court can impose these and other onerous restrictions as a condition of release … a court can take the much more modest step of requiring vaccination as a condition of a defendant’s being released from jail,” the judge wrote.
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The order also noted vaccinations are “freely available” in federal jails, though not everyone has availed themselves:
In his order, Rakoff said that he had no authority to “second-guess” the Bureau of Prisons’ apparent policy of allowing detainees to forgo vaccination if they so choose. But, he said, the court had a “responsibility” to set bail conditions that will “prevent a danger to the community, in this case, an increased risk of infecting other, innocent people and even potentially causing their deaths.”
At this point, no matter how people wind up getting vaccinated, it is a good thing.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).