This ought to strengthen his case.
On Friday, Ohio solicitor general Ben Flowers was forced to participate in arguments before the Supreme Court remotely after he tested positive for COVID despite having been boosted, making him the latest in a long, long line of public servants who have contracted the “breakthrough” infections. He tested positive when he took a required test before oral arguments on Friday.
The Supreme Court required all participants in Friday’s oral arguments to take a COVID PCR test ahead of time, which is when Flowers realized he had tested positive for the virus. Flowers wasn’t the only one participating over the phone; Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill also participated remotely but her office didn’t specify why, telling Reuters it was “in accordance with COVID protocols.”
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments for and against two policies implemented by the White House under President Biden, one of which is the requirement that businesses with 100 or more employees require employees to get the vaccine or test negative at least once a week for those who remain unvaccinated.
The second policy being debated is a requirement that workers at hospitals and other healthcare facilities that participate in federally run Medicare and Medicaid programs get vaccinated. This could create serious problems for hospitals around the country that are already struggling with staffing shortages (since many health-care workers have refused the vaccine on the basis of being constantly exposed to COVID every day during the course of their job).
The White House tasked OSHA with enforcing the policies and decreed that failure to comply could result in fines of up to $10K and imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
As the Hill reminds us, both of those policies faced immediate criticism as the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association said the mandate would be too burdensome for their business.
“Nevertheless, the Biden administration has chosen to declare an ’emergency’ and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season,” said David French, senior vice president of government relations for NRF.
Flowers and attorneys from 26 other states wrote in a brief that COVID “is not (for most employees) an occupational danger that OSHA may regulate” and “does not present a ‘grave’ danger for many employees subject to the mandate.”
Now, Flowers has inadvertently demonstrated that not only is COVID not a threat for most workers, but that getting the vaccine doesn’t mean any individuals workers are immune. In fact, as Alex Berenson has pointed out, there’s data to suggest that vaccinated individuals may face more severe reactions to omicron.
Unfortunately, Berenson’s twitter account, where he shared most of this information, was suspended weeks ago.
But it might not matter anyway, since according to CNN, SCOTUS appears poised to reject both White House mandates.
Courtesy of Zero Hedge
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