EXCLUSIVE REPORT: BG Vaccine Case Profiled in Rolling Stone Magazine
EXCLUSIVE: Rolling Stone has published an exclusive investigation by Katherine Eban into the national fight over childhood vaccines. Much of that fight is playing out in West Virginia, and the article highlights the work Bailey Glasser is doing on behalf of schoolchildren and everyone (including school professionals and families) who are affected by exposure to communicable diseases that vaccines can easily prevent.
Our firm represents the West Virginia Board of Education in litigation over the state’s school vaccination law. That law has stood since 1937 and for nearly 90 years has required students to be vaccinated to attend public school, with exemptions only for medical reasons. West Virginia has not had a measles outbreak since 1994, while neighboring states have struggled to contain recent outbreaks.
In 2025, the new West Virginia governor issued an executive order directing the state health department to grant religious exemptions. The Board of Education voted 9-0 to follow the law as written. Within weeks, the Board was sued by a legal team that has challenged vaccine requirements in states across the country. The case went to trial in Raleigh County last September.
Partner Christopher D. Smith, founding partner Benjamin L. Bailey, and litigator Denali Hedrick lead the Board’s defense. Rolling Stone follows Chris from that courtroom to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which has paused a lower court ruling against the Board. We are now awaiting a decision from the state’s highest court.