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THE GREEN BAG
SCHOOLS. (Vaccination of Pupils.) till. Sup. Ct. — The authority to compel vaccination of school children is a matter which has received considerable attention within the past few years. One of the recent pronouncements of the courts on the subject is found in People ex rd. Jenkins v. Board of Education, 84 N. E. Rep. 1046. Relator, a child of six years, applied for admission to one of the schools in Chicago, but her application was denied on the ground that she had not been vaccinated. Mandamus to the board of education was then asked to compel her enro Iment. Defen dant's answer did not deny the facts alleged in the petition, but set up in justification of its action a city ordinance prohibiting the allowance of
attendance at school of any child not vaccinated within seven years next preceding. Relator demurred to the answer on the ground that the ordinance was unconstitutional. The demurrer was overruled by the trial court. Rela.tor electing to stand thereon, appealed to the Supreme Court. That tribunal held that the right to educa tion given by the constitution could not be thus restricted and that the general police power of the city was not broad enough to include authority to enact such an ordinance. It should be noticed, that this ordinance was not restricted to times of danger from epidemics, and there seems reason to believe from some things said in the opinion that if it had it would not have been declared invalid.
