MILFORD, Conn. — A Pre-K school in Milford is taking a lawsuit to federal court, fighting Connecticut’s vaccination requirements for school children.
Milford Christian Church, which runs the Milford Christian Academy (K-12) as well as Little Eagles Pre-K (children ages 3-5), is suing CT public health officials for violating their First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2023, said they would not “bend the knee to the state of Connecticut’s vaccination mandates."
Listed in the lawsuit are the Connecticut State Department of Education, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
“The First Amendment guarantees an affirmative right to practice your faith. The state isn’t respecting that,” said Cameron Atkinson, an attorney representing Milford Christian Church members in his role with We The Patriots USA, Inc.
Atkinson and his clients held a press conference outside of the courthouse in New Haven on Monday after the case was heard in front of a federal judge for the first time.
“It is the height of arrogance and audacity for the state to come in and try to bang down a church door and interpose public health between the pulpit and the pews,” Atkinson said.
This was after the state visited their daycare center, Little Eagles, for an annual inspection earlier this year and noticed some of the children were still being granted a religious exemption. The state has warned the church they must comply with the immunizations law. The law was altered in 2021 to remove all vaccine exemptions that are not medical. This means all students in daycare, pre-K, and K-12 must get their vaccines for school.
“They said you either make these 3 to 5-year-olds get vaccinated, you expel them, or we will close your doors,” said Pastor Jim Loomer of Milford Christian Church, one of the plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit.
Loomer said though this is only impacting a small group of children, it’s about the larger argument involving freedom in America.
“We just believe it’s a government overreach,” Loomer said. “And we’re heading to court today expecting that although the two branches of government, the executive and the legislature have in a sense failed the citizens in Connecticut, we’re believing that the third branch, the judicial branch, will again restore our constitutional rights.”
In court Monday, the state asked U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden to dismiss the lawsuit. Assistant Attorney General Darren Cunningham told the judge the state has an obligation to protect the public health of everyone in Connecticut. He said religious exemptions have been on the rise in recent years, resulting in outbreaks in neighboring communities.
A spokesperson for the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General said in a statement, “Vaccines save lives. We will continue to vigorously defend our state’s strong and necessary public health laws.”
However, Atkinson and his defendants continue to argue that getting certain vaccinations goes against their religious beliefs, which are centered on parents making decisions on how to care for their children.
“What we believe is the law of god out of the bible and that is that children are considered to be a gift of god to the parents. And god gives the responsibility to the parents to train and care for those children. So we honor the religious exemption on the basis of what the bible teaches,” Pastor Loomer said.
The judge did not make any rulings in Monday’s court hearing. He told both sides that he would work to make his decision expeditiously.
In the meantime, Little Eagles Pre-K has been granted permission by the state to continue operating while this plays out in court.
Atkinson said they’re willing to take their lawsuit to the Supreme Court if it comes to that.
“We have to work together as a community to figure out how we can religious liberty and protect public health at the same time,” Atkinson said.
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