Farina v. Board of Education of the City of New York

116 F. Supp. 2d 503, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14934, 2000 WL 1535963
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 12, 2000
Docket00 CV 5767
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 116 F. Supp. 2d 503 (Farina v. Board of Education of the City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Farina v. Board of Education of the City of New York, 116 F. Supp. 2d 503, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14934, 2000 WL 1535963 (S.D.N.Y. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NICKERSON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Francesca and Luigi Farina, individually and as guardians for their minor children Gianluea and Alessio, brought this action against defendant New York City Board of Education, alleging that defendant violated plaintiffs’ rights of religious freedom and equal protection of the law undei; the First and Fourteenth Amendments and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, by refusing to grant plaintiffs an exemption from the immunization requirements of New York Public Health Law § 2164 and prohibiting the children from attending Public School 329 unless plaintiffs have their children immunized. Plaintiffs contend that they are entitled to an exemption under § 2164(9) because they hold genuine and sincere religious beliefs which are contrary to the practices required by § 2164(2) and (7)(a), mandating immunization against six diseases.

Plaintiffs brought the action on September 25, 2000 and sought by order to show cause a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. This Court denied the temporary restraining order, and held a hearing on the preliminary injunction on September 29 and October 2, 2000.

I

The Farinas first attempted on May 1, 1997 to register their older child Gianluea at Public School 215 for the 1997 — 1998 *505 school year. As part of the registration process, the school secretary asked Francesca Farina to provide immunization records for her son. Then Mrs. Farina presented a letter dated May 1, 1997 addressed to Gail Feuer, Principal of P.S. 215, stating:

Our family holds genuine and sincere religious beliefs which prohibit the practice of vaccination and invasive treatments and tests by the State. We release the School from this responsibility. With this statement we invoke our rights and are therefore exempt from vaccination pursuant to New York State Public Health Law 2164 (2165), Paragraph 9.
This matter is personal and private. Please keep this confidential statement on file as legal proof of our objection.

The school secretary called the Community School District 21 Superintendent’s office, and faxed a copy of Mrs. Farina’s letter to Denise Sasso, the school district Health Secretary, who showed it to her supervisor, Anita Malta, executive assistant to the Superintendent. Ms. Malta determined that the letter was insufficient, as “it didn’t really give us any information about the nexus between the religious beliefs and the request for an exemption.” Ms. Sasso spoke to Mrs. Farina on the telephone at P.S. 215, telling her that the letter was insufficient, and that Mrs. Farina needed to provide additional documentation supporting her religious beliefs relating to immunizations.

The parties disagree about the next sequence of events, but either in a telephone conversation or in a subsequent meeting at the District office, Ms. Sasso asked Mrs. Farina what religion she practiced. Mrs. Farina said her family was Roman Catholic. Ms. Sasso then told Mrs. Farina to support her request with “a letter from the Catholic diocese or from the parish.” Ms. Sasso testified that Mrs. Farina responded, “Oh, come on, I’m Catholic. Don’t be ridiculous. You know I’m not going to get this documentation... [fit’s really not a religious belief, it’s a personal belief.” This ambiguous statement may be interpreted either to mean that Mrs. Farina knew her beliefs to be secular rather than religious, or that she meant that her religious opposition to inoculations is personal to her, not official dogma of the Roman Catholic church. Mrs. Farina maintains that Ms. Sasso also told her to change the letter to reflect personal rather than religious beliefs, but that Mrs. Farina insisted that the beliefs were religious.

Mrs. Farina sent a letter to Principal Gail Feuer on May 11, 1997, requesting an appointment to discuss the matter with Ms. Feuer. Mrs. Farina then sent a certified letter on May 21, 1997 to Ms. Feuer asserting:

“[according to New York State Public health law 2164, my child’s records are complete, and all legal requirements have been complied with in full ... Should you have any questions regarding this matter, I ask that you put them in writing, explain your position and include and/or cite and reference the appropriate statutory authority. If within 10 days I do not receive any such communications, I will consider this matter settled.”

On June 7, 1997, Mr. and Mrs. Farina sent a letter to Ms. Feuer that repeated that “our child’s records are complete, and all legal requirements have been complied with in full” and added:

We believe that it is not important for the School District to understand our beliefs, but to respect that we hold them. We are not requesting permission for an exemption: we are invoking our right to claim an exemption.
In the interest of expediting the processing of our child’s enrollment papers, we submit the following supporting statements: As the legal and responsible parents, we prohibit the vaccination of our children by the State, as it is contrary to our genuine and sincerely held religious beliefs and practices.
Vaccines are made of man and not God. Our children were created in God’s perfect image with physical, spiritual and *506 emotional aspects balanced and working in unison. The injection or ingestion of such substances would prove injurious to the health and therefore the spirit. We believe we were not meant to interfere with the spiritual wisdom of the organism in this way.

This letter also repeated the language of the May 21st letter requesting that any questions be in writing, with statutory authority, and asserting that the Farinas would consider the matter “settled” if they received no response within ten days. District 21 responded on June 19, 1997 with a letter stating that the letter of June 7 was received and the matter was under consideration.

Francesca Farina testified that during the summer of 1997, Gianluca Farina “regressed with speech and with behavior,” and that he was evaluated at Warbasse Nursery School from September to December of 1997. Mrs. Farina presented Warbasse school with a letter on September 30, 1997 which was identical to the letter presented to P.S. 215 on May 1, 1997.

In December of 1997, Gianluca was placed in a special education program at P.S. 329. That school never requested a letter of religious exemption, but received a copy of the letter to Warbasse school with Gianluca’s records. Gianluca attended school at P.S. 329 from December 1997 until September 20, 2000.

The Farina’s younger son Alessio attended Warbasse Nursery School beginning in 1998, receiving special education services there. His records contained a copy of the Farina’s letter to Warbasse regarding Gianluca. In January 2000, Al-essio was reevaluated for special education needs, and in June 2000, the Farinas received notification that he would be offered a place in the special education program at P.S. 329. On September 7, 2000, Mrs. Farina brought Alessio to P.S. 329 and was told that he would not be allowed to attend school without an immunization record or a religious exemption. Mrs.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Farrell v. City of New York
S.D. New York, 2024
Matter of Hogue v. Board of Educ. of the City Sch. Dist. of the City of N.Y.
2023 NY Slip Op 04927 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2023)
Caviezel v. Great Neck Public Schools
701 F. Supp. 2d 414 (E.D. New York, 2010)
Matter of Shmuel G. v. Rivka G.
2005 NY Slip Op 50120(U) (Kings Family Court, 2005)
Matter of Shmuel G.
2004 NY Slip Op 50602(U) (Kings Family Court, 2004)
Turner Ex Rel. Turner v. Liverpool Central School
186 F. Supp. 2d 187 (N.D. New York, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
116 F. Supp. 2d 503, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14934, 2000 WL 1535963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farina-v-board-of-education-of-the-city-of-new-york-nysd-2000.