Two judges in New York State have required defendants to get the COVID vaccine as part of their plea deal and bail.
Judge Jeffrey Zimmerman of the Bronx County criminal court mandated a defendant in his court room to get the COVID vaccine as part of his sentence.
Zimmerman backed his decision by saying his defendant had chosen to put his own needs above others when charged with drug possession, shoplifting and criminal contempt.
He claimed that by choosing to get the vaccine he would be showing an act of rehabilitation.
Zimmerman compared his choice to a time a judge ordered a drunk driver to place a sign on his car saying he was a drunk driver.
The sentence was later appealed in the New York Court of Appeals when the sentence was deemed punitive and not rehabilitative.
Another judge in Manhattan, Judge Jed Rakoff, required as part of her bail, his defendant get the vaccine because she posed a risk to other innocent people and could cause their deaths.
To make his decision, he referenced the Bail Reform Act of 1984. This lets judges impose rules on individuals on bail that would stop them from becoming a danger to the public.
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