Boone v. Boozman

Cynthia Boone (plaintiff) requested that her daughter receive a religious exemption to Arkansas’s compulsory immunization requirement for students. The religious exemption provided that a parent could receive an exemption for her child if the immunization conflicted with the practices of the parent’s recognized church or religion. Under the direction of Director Fay Boozman of the Arkansas Department of Health (the department) (defendant), employees screened individuals applying for exemptions to ensure that the individuals practiced a recognized religion. After Boone was not granted the exemption, she filed an action against the department in federal district court. Boone claimed that she had received revelations from God indicating that immunizations were associated with the devil and that the department had violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Boone also argued that the compulsory immunization requirement violated the First Amendment and Boone’s due-process rights because it interfered with her right to make medical decisions for her child. The department, along with the Cabot School District (collectively, the department) (defendant), argued that both the religious-exemption and the compulsory-immunization laws were constitutional, and that Boone was not entitled to a religious exemption. Both the department and Boone submitted motions for summary judgment. The court considered the motions.