Video: 'MUN Supreme Court Video: Jacobson v. Massachusetts'

(Monday, February 20, 1905) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, today upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s health.

The case involved a Swedish immigrant, Henning Jacobson, who refused to pay a $5 fine for refusing to be vaccinated against smallpox.

The Court upheld the right of states to penalize individuals who rejected vaccinations, but did not say they could be forcibly vaccinated.