A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed last week with the U.S. Supreme Court in Perry v. Marteney, (Sup.Ct., cert. filed 9/4/2026). In the case, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, held that West Virginia’s law that requires children attending school in the state to be vaccinated against a number of infectious diseases may be constitutionally applied to a student attending the state’s online public school over the religious objections of the student’s parents, even though the vaccination requirement does not apply to home schooled children or those educated in learning pods or in microschools. The 4th Circuit said in part: “[T]he Perrys do not allege that K.P.’s desire to attend the Virtual Academy is religiously motivated, so this is merely an instance of West Virginia treating some secular activity more favorably than other secular activity….” (See prior posting.) ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.
