Zucht v King

Pursuant to their rules, the City of San Antonio, Texas excluded Rosalyn Zucht from their public schools and private schools within the City because she refused to be vaccinated against smallpox.

Zucht then filed a suit in a State of Texas district court stating that the City's rules deprived her of her liberty without due process by making vaccination against smallpox compulsory.  Further, she stated that the rules were enforced by the City's Board of Health which did not have sufficient guidance.

Zucht sought an injunction against the City's rules and a writ compelling her admission to the City's public schools.  

The State district court upheld the City's rules and denied the writ.

The State appellate court upheld the district court's decision.

Eventually the case arrived at the United States Supreme Court (Zucht v King) to decide whether or not the City's rules violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and denied Zucht equal protection.

The Supreme Court cited the case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), in which the Court had stated that it is within the police power of a state to provide for compulsory vaccination. The Court also found no reason to question the fairness with which the city rules were applied in this case, and found that the rules reflected the broad discretion needed by authorities to protect the public health.  The unanimous decision for King was handed down one hundred years ago, November 13, 1922.

I wonder whether the current United States Supreme Court would uphold Zucht v. King and Jacobson v. Massachusetts.