Justice rules unvaccinated jurors won't be able to serve in upcoming Calgary trial
CBC
A Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta justice has excused all unvaccinated potential jurors in an upcoming Calgary jury trial.
This ruling also applies to those who refused to state their vaccine status.
Hon. Justice Nicholas E. Devlin ruled that the administration of justice is better served as a result.
The court met Friday morning to select a jury for a sexual assault trial set to take place Monday, on the heels of the province declaring a public health emergency, as masses of people have become critically ill and hospitalized from COVID-19.
"This trial is taking place in what is colloquially known as the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," Devlin's judgement said.
The justice ruled that vaccination is safe, prevents the spread of COVID-19, and is a proven method of reducing the risk and prevalence of the virus.
"This isn't something that typically we've seen, not in the context of a public health outbreak and not in another context that I could think of, have we excluded entire categories of jurors," says Lorian Hardcastle, a health law and policy professor at the University of Calgary.
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