VICII: Jacobson v. Massachusetts 1905, (197 US 11) - Mandated Vaccines Then and Now

During a small pox outbreak in the early 20th century in the United States a Cambridge pastor, Henning Jacobsen sued the State of Massachusetts when that State mandated vaccines for all to protect public safety and health. Mr. Jacobson, an immigrant from Sweden asserted that he had experienced serious health consequences from past experience with vaccines. He argued further that the Constitution of the United States under the 14th Amendment which guarantees the equal protection of the law guaranteed his human right and liberty to decide what medical treatments were in his best interest and that the State should not have the police power to force injections on unwilling Americans.

 

In 1905 the Supreme Court of the United States held in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that State laws mandating vaccines were within the police powers of the State in order to further the public good. (Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 US 11(1905). Setting the precedent of the constitutionality of mandated vaccines the Jacobsen case is widely discussed today as Covid 19 surges through the United States and the world, and the President of the United States, as well as many Doctors, Scientists and concerned persons demand that governments use police power to mandate vaccines for all people to prevent the spread of a nasty sickness which threatens the public health and safety of the community.