Yesterday, Wednesday December 8, our legal team went to battle for our children, again, in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles. They had filed a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction asking Judge Beckloff for an order stopping the District from enforcing its CV19 shot requirement on kids 12 and older in order to continue receiving in-person services and education because (i) school Districts in California do not have legal authority to require new vaccines for children in order for them to attend school in person, and (ii) the potential harms of children being forced to do so or otherwise be denied access to in person learning and shunted into the City of Angel’s subpar, failing remote program are greater than any harm to the District of simply maintaining their current COVID-19 safety measures prior to the illegal vaccine mandate.
The morning of the hearing, our attorneys, Jessica Barsotti, Rita Barnett-Rose, and Nicole Pearson were blindsided by a 14-page tentative – or an “initial” or “possible” – ruling from Judge Beckloff denying our request that he posted before the hearing. This did not deter our Warriors – it fueled their resolve and passion, and fortified their weapons – as they went to battle in the courtroom to break down Judge Beckloff’s ruling and explain why it was not appropriate under existing law, and would otherwise be irreparably harmful to our kids and California as a whole. Attorneys Jessica Barsotti and Nicole Pearson did a fantastic job explaining to the Court why sending students to the City of Angels was not in any way equivalent to in-person education and services, and how allowing individual schools to mandate vaccines at the local level would set “extremely dangerous precedent.”
To his credit, Judge Beckloff was receptive to our attorneys’ arguments and inquiring and – after almost 2 hours of oral argument – stated that our attorneys had given him “pause” and “serious matters to think about.” As a result, rather than rubber stamp his own 14-page initial ruling, he took it under submission and is still deciding how he should rule.
What does this mean for us and our children? It means we pray. We pray that Judge Beckloff continues to hear and remember our attorneys’ brilliant arguments, including how harmful it will be not to grant our request, and that he has the courage and resolve to sign an order granting our Motion, despite all the opposing forces and pressures he is certainly under.
Judge Beckloff did not give a specific deadline for his final ruling, however, we will keep you posted with next steps and updates as they arise.