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Case docket

Children's Health Defense, Inc. v. Rutgers — U.S. District Court, D.N.J.

Children's Health Defense, Inc. v. Rutgers — 33 court filings in the archive from U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, filed between August 25, 2021 and October 19, 2022. Among them: 4 notices, 3 opinions and 3 orders.

Case facts

CourtU.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
Filings33 public filings
Filed2021-08-25 – 2022-10-19
Document typesnotices (4), opinions (3), orders (3), memoranda or briefs (2), declarations (2), motion (1)
Original PDFs2 of 33

Case summary

Children's Health Defense, Inc., with a group of Rutgers students, filed a complaint on August 16, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 3:21-cv-15333-ZNQ-TJB, seeking a declaration that the part of Rutgers' COVID-19 policy requiring students to be vaccinated before returning to campus is unlawful. The plaintiffs asserted that the requirement that all students either receive a COVID-19 vaccination or obtain a lawful exemption violates the Constitution and state and federal laws. The court denied a motion for recusal on September 14, 2021 and denied the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order on September 27, 2021. On September 22, 2022 it granted the defendants' motion to dismiss and entered final judgment dismissing the First Amended Complaint. The plaintiffs appealed to the Third Circuit on October 19, 2022.

Case at a glance

PartiesPlaintiffs: Children's Health Defense, Inc., Peter Cordi, Raelynne Miller, Kayla Mateo, Adriana Pinto, Jake Bothe, Anthony Lamancusa, Jessica Moore, Ryan Sandor, Gianna Corallo, Ryan Farrell, Sebastian Blasi, Maggie Horn and Lindsay Mancini, three of them formerly pleaded as Doe plaintiffs. Defendants: Rutgers and named university defendants
Court and docketU.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 3:21-cv-15333-ZNQ-TJB
ProgramNot named in the filings on this page
ClaimsDeclaratory and injunctive relief against Rutgers University Policy Section 10.3.14, which mandates COVID-19 vaccination; the plaintiffs pleaded that the requirement that all students be vaccinated or obtain a lawful exemption violates the Constitution and state and federal laws, and that applying it to a fully remote student is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
Disposition or statusRecusal denied September 14, 2021; temporary restraining order denied September 27, 2021; motion to dismiss granted and final judgment entered September 22, 2022 dismissing the First Amended Complaint; notice of appeal to the Third Circuit filed October 19, 2022
Status checked2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read

What did the plaintiffs ask for?

A declaration that the portion of Rutgers' COVID-19 policy requiring students to be vaccinated prior to returning to campus is unlawful, and a temporary restraining order enjoining enforcement of Policy Section 10.3.14 against a student enrolled in a fully remote class schedule who would not set foot on campus.

How did the district court rule?

It denied the temporary restraining order on September 27, 2021, stating that for the reasons given the motion would be denied. On September 22, 2022 it granted the motion to dismiss and entered final judgment dismissing the First Amended Complaint; the opinion and the dismissal order on this page are scans whose text does not extract, and the ruling is recorded in the notice of appeal.

What did Rutgers argue?

That the facial challenge to the policy is precluded by Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), whose principle of deference to vaccine mandates it said had remained undisturbed; that New Jersey law authorizes Rutgers to mandate any vaccine recommended by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; and that a student taking only remote classes has no legal right to an exemption.

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.

Filings

33 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.

  1. Counsel Letter Requesting Recusal — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  2. Memorandum of Law in Support of TRO — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Memorandum or brief
  3. Declaration of Adriana Pinto — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J., 2021-08-30)Declaration
  4. Notice of Motion for TRO — Children's Health Defense v. RutgersNotice
  5. Notice of Motion for Recusal — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J., 2021-09-03)Notice
  6. Rutgers Opposition to Recusal Motion — Children's Health…
  7. Opinion Denying Motion for Recusal — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Opinion
  8. Rutgers Opposition to TRO Motion — Children's Health Defense v…
  9. Order Denying Recusal — Children's Health Defense v. RutgersOrder
  10. Plaintiffs' Reply Brief on TRO — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  11. Rutgers Sur-Reply on TRO Motion — Children's Health Defense v…
  12. Notice of Motion to File Sur-Reply — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J., 2021-09-22)Notice
  13. Opinion Denying TRO — Children's Health Defense v. RutgersOpinion
  14. Order Denying TRO — Children's Health Defense v. RutgersOrder
  15. Memorandum in Support of Motion to Compel Doe Disclosure — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Memorandum or brief
  16. Motion to Compel Doe Plaintiffs to Identify Themselves — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Motion
  17. Stipulation and Order — Children's Health Defense v. RutgersStipulation · PDF
  18. Plaintiffs' Opposition to Compel Doe Disclosure — Children's…
  19. Rutgers Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  20. New Jersey Register Exhibit (Dkt. 42-4) — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  21. Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss — Children's Health…
  22. Declaration of Counsel Julio C. Gomez — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J., 2022-01-11)Declaration · PDF
  23. Rutgers Reply Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  24. Supplemental Authority Letter — NJ PBA v. Murphy — Children's…
  25. NJ PBA v. Murphy — Slip Opinion (Exhibit to Supplemental Authority) — Children's Health Defense, Inc. v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  26. Letter Order — Doe Plaintiffs Must Disclose Identities — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Letter
  27. Supplemental Authority Letter — Goe v. Children's Health Defense — CHD v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  28. Plaintiffs' Response to Goe Supplemental Authority — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  29. Plaintiffs' Supplemental Authority — CDC Guidance and EO 302 —…
  30. Rutgers' Letter Opposing Supplemental Briefing — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)
  31. Opinion Granting Motion to Dismiss — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Opinion
  32. Order of Dismissal With Prejudice — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Order
  33. Notice of Appeal to Third Circuit — Children's Health Defense v. Rutgers (D.N.J.)Notice

More documents from this docket

2 more documents from the same CourtListener docket (gov.uscourts.njd.480171) are in the archive but are not among the 33 filings above.

  1. Plaintiffs, VERIFIED COMPLAINTComplaint
  2. Proposed OrderOrder

Other cases in the archive from U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.

Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.

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