📖 Massive Increase of Religious Exemption Requests Among Prison Guards As Mandate Takes Effect

What this could mean and why it should matter to you.

Background

WANJ has previously addressed why religious exemption to mandatory vaccination policy as a final escape hatch to forced vaccination is dangerous. Applying for one is an admission that an external body has authority to force people into medical procedures, treatments or interventions, rather than individuals freely making a choice in an act of informed consent.

Recent reports indicate that the effort to quantify and deal with application requests for religious exemptions to the vaccination and booster mandate due to Executive Order 283 is ongoing and will extend into the coming days and weeks by county corrections facilities and other institutional/congregate settings run by the State. No reporting has been available about compliance regarding the 'second part' of the mandate which takes effect on March 30, 2022 requiring boosters for those employees who chose vaccination prior to it being mandated. Individuals in that category will likely not be afforded the opportunity for exemption should they choose not to further comply.

These facts and uncertainties coupled with statements made by a PBA union official and a NJ Department of Corrections spokeswoman give pause:

“Definitely 1,600 exemptions were filed as of yesterday,” Sullivan said Thursday. “I don’t know how many medical. I know it was like 1,600 religious. I don’t think the medical is going to be as many because we didn’t have a lot of people that had doctors that are willing to sign their name to exemptions..."I mean, I don’t how you really prove somebody does or doesn’t have a devout religious belief,” Sullivan said."

"Department of Corrections spokeswoman Liz Velez said there is presently a staff vaccination rate of around 42.8%, out of close to 7,300 civilian and uniformed staff...“DOC leadership is constantly reviewing staffing plans to ensure the safety and security of its facilities and is poised to implement strategies to maintain the integrity of its operations including consolidation of units/facilities as needed and/or securing additional resources with the support of the Governor’s Office,” Velez said."

The timeline for full implementation of the mandate and established procedures defined by labor contracts regarding the potential firing of those who do not comply complicate the current assessment of what the final impact will be on Department of Corrections staffing. Meanwhile, Governor Murphy has already established the precedent of utilizing National Guard resources to support the other industry impacted by EO283 - health care - by filling staffing gaps at long term care facilities and veterans homes. It's not a stretch to imagine the use of National Guard troops temporarily support staffing shortages sometime in the coming months if state and county corrections officers and other support employees aren't able to meet the needs of securing and operating facilities as everything gets settled.

Why it matters

Governor Murphy has used the slogan 'Public Health Creates Economic Health' as a mantra during the past year. Throughout the two year pandemic an overwhelming focus on messaging pointing to safety as a main priority in decision making and subsequent governmental action has been repeated time and again. At first glance, any one of these items: vaccine mandates for certain classes of workers, religious exemptions for individuals, and use of National Guard resources during a crisis can readily be construed as appropriate courses of action undertaken by the involved and responsible parties, given circumstances. When viewed critically - as a whole - some less visible things become more apparent.

First, crushing the use of religious exemptions to vaccine mandates has been a stated goal within leadership of the NJ Legislature for some time. Some may remember the challenge that happened little more that two years ago. In the first few weeks of 2020, former NJ State Senate President Steve Sweeney vowed to continue the effort to pass a law removing religious exemptions. Although Sweeney lost his reelection bid in November 2021 to newcomer Senator Ed Durr, another powerful NJ Senate leader has been consistently vocal about his support for legislation removing exemptions. In the days following the 2021 General Election, it was reported that the Chair of the NJ Senate Health Committee, Senator Joe Vitale, was “convinced” that the coronavirus pandemic - which arrived in New Jersey not long after his bill to remove religious exemptions was defeated in January 2020 (although few members of the public were aware then) - warrants taking up the issue again. At the time of this writing, neither Sen. Vitale nor any other member of the NJ Senate or General Assembly has officially introduced a bill on the topic for consideration during the 2022-2023 NJ Legislature.

As stated by the union representative in reference to the current onslaught of religious exemption requests by prison guards, proving the sincerity of an individual's religious beliefs presents challenges. If requests for religious exemption by corrections officers are viewed as abuse of exemption provisions in an effort to evade mandates, then leadership within the NJ Legislature can point to this as reasoning for advancing the long-desired amendment to current law regarding children’s vaccinations and even seek to expand and further define circumstances where the State may demand that residents submit to mandatory vaccination requirements. Previous versions of the bill have sought a repeal of religious exemptions to mandatory vaccination of children with respect to school and childcare attendance.

Given the current climate and facts on the ground, the potential for a mandate directed at some state employees to lead to broadly worded legislation impacting the public at large is a very real possible scenario. The ultimate result could be not only loss of bodily autonomy when it comes to vaccine choice for certain classes of workers, but the groundwork could be laid to allow for future required inoculation of members of the public at the demand of the State with very limited legal grounds for resisting. Furthermore, for many faithful New Jerseyans, this would indeed represent a significant chipping away at religious liberty as particularly described in Article I of the New Jersey State Constitution.

Effects on State governance

As noted, Gov. Murphy dipped a proverbial 'toe in the water' not only by issuing EO283, but also through calling in National Guard troops to support staffing at State run veterans’ homes and private long term care facilities. Given the current context, this move opened up some significant grey areas when it comes to how elected officials apply tactical decision making regarding allocation and utilization of resources to best protect State interests. A factor which is much harder to discern without a wide angle view is the way this mandate acts toward a shift in perception and operationalization when it comes to two distinct matters related to State government:

1. Compulsory acceptance of health related mandates as a condition of employment when it comes to the State workforce

2. The possibility of using the National Guard to temporarily staff State entities

New Jersey's financial responsibility in the form of payroll, benefits and pension obligations to current and retired State employees makes up a significant portion of State spending. By requiring certain State employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, as executed by EO283, the door has been opened to utilize injections as a tool to manage the costs associated with compensation due these individuals. Experts and State officials have conceded that the Covid-19 vaccines and boosters do not stop the spread of the virus, but minimize the chance that an infected person would become sick enough to require an expensive hospital stay. Peering into the future it’s not hard to imagine how other medical treatments, even those unrelated to communicable diseases, could be warranted as a way to reduce incidence of health issues that impact State worker productivity and serve to control costs for health related expenses.

While Gov. Murphy has not been shy about his budgetary goals for the State of New Jersey and desire for streamlining State government through innovation including entrance into public-private partnerships as a way to realize cost savings and improve the business of governance, the use of National Guard resources during the pandemic likewise enters into new territory. From a practical standpoint, it seems unlikely that members of the National Guard could or would be compelled by the governor of the State of New Jersey to do the work of State government on more than a temporary basis in a declared emergency, but the pandemic did introduce the idea of using troops for functions outside of what could be thought of as traditional disaster relief.  In other states, members of the National Guard have been deployed to drive school buses and staff schools.  Looking into the future, for example, what would prevent a governor from declaring an emergency related to climate change and, in the interest of the State, utilize resources of the National Guard to support the execution of a defined project to address the threat?

Final thoughts and what’s on the horizon

Although the current emergency related to Covid-19 appears to be receding, a case has been made for some of the specific ways that mandates and use of executive authority in New Jersey during the pandemic has impacted public policy and governance and may continue to do so in the future.  Another area where Governor Murphy’s mandates, decisions and use of power during this time could have a significant impact on Americans moving forward relates to the functional intersections of a pandemic-inspired program granting early release to some New Jersey prisoners through a public health credit system and the future of surveillance, particularly the use of facial recognition technology.

21st century questions about how to best address policy and effects of these tools on aspects of society such as criminal justice, policing, economics, commerce, health, education, and the exercise of First Amendment freedoms held dear by Americans for over 200 years must be approached with sincerity and transparency. Based upon research and reporting on these hot topics, WANJ has determined that addressing the subject matter warrants a separate, deep dive into how they relate to public policy, pending legislation and current NJ law.  Stay tuned.