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Alaska High Court Rules On Constitutionality of Required TB Test

By Howard M. Friedman

In Huffman v. State of Alaska, (AK Sup. Ct., April 3, 2009), the Alaska Supreme Court rejected a claim by parents of elementary school children that their religious liberty rights were violated by the state requirement that their children receive a PPD skin test for tuberculosis in order to enroll in school. The court held that the state requirement survived plaintiffs' 1st Amendment challenge as a neutral law of general application. Analyzing the claim under the free exercise clause of the Alaska Constitution (Art. I, Sec. 4), the court held that the parents had not shown that their objections were based on religious beliefs:

The Huffmans do not profess to subscribe to any organized religion. They rely solely on their affidavits as evidence of their nontraditional religious beliefs. Their statements use the terms "religion" and "religious beliefs," but they discuss only an opposition to putting harmful substances into the body. The record provides no indication that the Huffmans? feelings are connected to a comprehensive belief system, set of practices, or connection to ideas about fundamental matters.

The court however remanded the case to the lower court for it to consider further plaintiffs' alternative claim that the required TB test violates their privacy interest in making decisions about their children's medical treatments, protected by Article I, sections 1 and 22 of the Alaska Constitution. It instructed the trial court to consider whether alternative tests for TB which do not involve injecting substances into the body could be used effectively to achieve the state's goals.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on April 28, 2009 (boomark / email).