Pandemic Precedents Cast Shadow on Biden Shot-or-Test Rule

The Cincinnati-based federal appeals court handling the legal challenge to the Biden administration’s shot-or-test regulation has ruled against other government responses to the coronavirus pandemic in decisions that don’t bode well for the emergency measure’s survival.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit—a court dominated by Republican-appointed judges that will review the emergency standard after winning a multi-circuit lottery—previously has nixed the federal government’s eviction moratorium and two Kentucky restrictions on religious services. The circuit was out ahead of the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts on those issues.

“This court has been very skeptical, ...