Listen to George

Thank you, Santa Barbara school board, for making the right decision regarding vaccinations for all employees. Just as George Washington mandated his troops be inoculated (for smallpox), the school board members acted in the interest of the common good.

A 1905 Supreme Court ruling affirmed: “But the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States to every person within its jurisdiction does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint. There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good.”

As part of a group, we respect certain restraints. We don’t drive through red lights, we take a driver’s test before operating a car, we don’t yell fire in a crowded theater. In a pandemic we don’t jeopardize others — for the common good. Thank you. The children are safer for your decision.