After Miyares Legal Opinion, Virginia’s Largest Universities End Student Vaccine Mandates
February 3, 2022 | Virginia
After Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) wrote a legal opinion last week saying that vaccine mandates for public university students are illegal, several of the state’s largest schools have backed off their COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
“Absent specific authority conferred by the General Assembly, public institutions of higher education in Virginia may not require vaccination against COVID-19 as a general condition of students’ enrollment or in-person attendance,” Attorney General Jason Miyares said in his opinion.
The opinion was just that – an opinion. It was not binding and had no legal authority on its face. A source close to Miyares explained to The Virginia Star exactly what the opinion meant.
“An opinion provides legal guidance to the person asking for it. The Virginia Supreme Court has stated that they carry weight in court, so they are often used by lawyers during their arguments in court,” the source told The Star. “They are not equivalent to law and there is no direct consequence if not followed. However, if an individual decided to sue a university for not following the Attorney General’s guidance, they could use the Attorney General’s opinion in court.”
But it appears that Miyares’ declaration was enough to intimidate Virginia’s universities…. (Excerpts from the Virginia Star)
