A judge in Raleigh County has granted a preliminary injunction for families seeking religious exemptions to West Virginia public school vaccinations requirements, a ruling that Gov. Patrick Morrisey called a win.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of a Raleigh County mother and other families is a flashpoint in an ongoing policy dispute over mandatory vaccine requirements in West Virginia schools.
“The court believes the compulsory vaccination law is not valid without a religious exemption,” Circuit Judge Michael Froble said while explaining his reasoning.
The injunction is temporary — and whether it’s permanent would depend on later, more expansive court examination. Also, the ruling applies to the specific parties to the case meaning, at this point, just the families who sued in Raleigh County.
The state Board of Education released a statement this afternoon emphasizing the narrow scope of the ruling.
“This injunction is limited in scope and applies only to those named in this lawsuit. It will have no impact on other students in Raleigh County or throughout the state,” the state board said.
The case could go two ways from here: The parties could wind up back in the same Raleigh County courtroom in a month or so to focus on a permanent injunction Or there could be an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Immediate reaction
Governor Morrisey posted on social media to say his side of the argument was victorious in court.
“Big victory for religious liberty in West Virginia!” Morrisey posted, noting another win on the same policy issue the prior day in a different courtroom on procedural grounds.
Big victory for religious liberty in West Virginia! We will continue to defend our 2023 Equal Protection for Religion law so that no child in the state is denied an education based on their religious beliefs. More work in front of us, but we are now 2-0 in the courts! https://t.co/FSk3wVJThq
— Governor Patrick Morrisey (@wvgovernor) July 24, 2025
The president of the state school board, Paul Hardesty, was on the opposite side of the issue. In the courtroom, shortly after the judge announced his ruling, Hardesty said more discussions would need to occur for the school board to determine its next move.
“From a public health perspective — disappointing,” Hardesty said.
State law in court conflict
Morrisey’s administration has continued to stand behind an executive order issued during the governor’s first week in office. Morrisey described the basis as the “Equal Protection for Religion Act,” which went into law in 2023.
Morrisey had called for legislation this year specifically allowing West Virginia families to declare religious and philosophical exemptions to the state’s school vaccination requirements. However, on March 24, the House of Delegates voted 42-56 to kill a bill reflecting that policy.
So what remains in West Virginia code is a requirement that West Virginia students entering school for the first time show proof of immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and hepatitis B unless properly medically exempted.
Earlier this year, Morrisey’s administration issued a directive for families wanting to pursue a religious exemption to send basic information to VaccineExemption@wv.gov, which is monitored by the state Bureau for Public Health.
In turn, the state Board of Education voted to direct Superintendent Michele Blatt to issue guidance to the county school systems that they follow the current compulsory school vaccination law that does not permit religious exemptions for students.
At the center of Morrisey’s argument is the “Equal Protection for Religion Act,” which became law in 2023.
The policy lays out the ability of individuals who believe their religious rights have been violated to seek a claim in court. The law says no state action may burden an individual’s exercise of religion unless it’s essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of achieving that.
The lawsuit in Raleigh County contends the state’s policies are not the least restrictive means of ensuring protection from communicable disease.
The lawyer for the families who were suing, Chris Wiest, said West Virginia applies its vaccination laws unequally even within the walls of its public schools.
“They don’t care about teachers, coaches, bus drivers janitors. They don’t care whether they’re vaccinated. They focus on kids,” Wiest said. “So they’ve got a problem with ‘compelling government interest.'”
Wiest said the families in the case would experience irreparable harm if they are denied an education in the public school system.
An attorney for the state school board, Chris Smith, said the concept of a religious exemption appears nowhere in the state code laying out school vaccination requirements.
“Instead, what the plaintiffs are asking this court to do is graft that requirement onto the vaccine law by means of the Equal Protection for Religion Act,” Smith told the court.
He continued, “The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death.
“Any sort of religious practice that endangers the ‘We’ for the sake of the ‘Me’ is not a protected religious right.”
In the courtroom
A crowd of people filled the courtroom in the Raleigh County Judicial Center. Many of the same faces had been present in legislative committee rooms months ago as lawmakers debated religious exemptions to the state’s school vaccine requirements.
One of the people who attended the two-hour hearing in Beckley on Thursday was Dr. Joseph Golden, a semi-retired family practice physician in Raleigh County.
During a break in the hearing, Golden said he couldn’t stay away because he is so concerned about the stakes of this debate.
“Back before we had vaccines, children would die from communicable diseases such as diphtheria, such as polio, such as various types of meningitis — all of which can be lessened and hopefully prevented by appropriate vaccine implementation and administration,” he said.