FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Network Indiana/WOWO): Eight Indiana University students have sued the school over a mandate that requires students, faculty, and staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to on-campus learning.
The Bopp law firm of Terre Haute is representing the students in the suit, which was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in Fort Wayne, instead of the southern Indiana district, which is where IU is actually located.
“We have a constitutionally-protected right to bodily integrity,” said the firm’s James Bopp, Jr. “We must consent to an invasion of our body. That’s part of our liberty.”
IU says the vaccine requirement – which they recently added would not require proof of vaccination itself – will allow them to get rid of all other restrictions, including social distancing and mask requirements on campus.
The lawsuit is partially based on Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s assertion that the school is a branch of government and must follow government rules, and they want the vaccine requirement declared unconstitutional and unenforceable.
