Rockland County on Friday sought to have a judge dismiss lawsuits challenging its state of emergency declared in the midst of the measles outbreak that barred unvaccinated children from public places including schools and places of worship.

County Attorney Thomas Humbach argued before state Supreme Court Justice Rolf Thorsen that the lawsuits contained technical problems but said he was mainly concerned with preserving the county's legal authority to take steps to protect the public health.

Thorsen's decision will be issued in the coming weeks, Humbach said.

"The issues concerning the value of vaccines and whether the measles is truly harmful were not at issue today," Humbach said in a statement. "However, the County maintains that vaccination is safe, effective and necessary to protect the public health."

County Executive Ed Day declared the emergency March 26 in the face of a measles outbreak that had reached 153 total cases at the time, but had climbed to 214 cases as of Friday. The county has declined to specify the number of active cases.

Thorsen halted the declaration on April 5, agreeing with a court challenge that asserted the number of measles cases did not rise to an epidemic or constitute a disaster. Thorsen's ruling was in response to two challenges filed by parents whose children were barred from attending school despite their religious exemptions to vaccinations.

Thorsen's order was upheld April 19 by a state appellate panel.

Day subsequently rescinded that order but renewed the state of emergency in a more limited form, targeting only those with measles or exposed to the disease in the Spring Valley-Monsey area where most of the cases have occurred. This order does not affect anyone with a religious or medical exemption.

Rockland's measles outbreak, one the nation's largest, began last October when a handful of visitors from Israel came to the county.

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Since that time the county Health Department has taken a number of steps to combat the highly contagious virus, including an aggressive vaccination campaign that has resulted in 19,661 people receiving the MMR vaccine.

Supporting religious exemptions

The New York State Legislature is considering a bill that would repeal the portion of the public health law that allows students to cite religious beliefs for an exemption from vaccinations in schools.

Michael Sussman, the lawyer who successfully argued in court against Rockland's emergency declaration, issued a statement this week in support of maintaining religious exemptions.

READ: Sussman's statement

"Striking the religious exemption altogether is tantamount to adopting a nuclear option where other means of warfare have not proven ineffectual," Sussman's statement reads. "This is morally irresponsible and poor public policy, a plain indicator of the impact of public hysteria on policy-makers."

As he asserted in court papers on behalf of families of students attending the Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge, Sussman sharply criticized Rockland County for not quarantining the seven visitors who touched off the outbreak.

Michael Sussman: Civil-rights attorney through the years

Sussman said doing away with religious exemptions would not put a stop to the hostility directed toward Rockland's rapidly growing religious Jewish population, and said legislation targeting insular minorities had been routinely struck down by the courts

New Square supports vaccinations

Meanwhile, New Square Mayor Israel Spitzer issued a press release through the County Executive's Office expressing support for Day's efforts to encourage vaccinations.

READ: The New Square press release

The village of some 8,450 Hasidic residents falls within the epicenter of the measles outbreak, which has mostly been contained to the Orthodox Jewish community in eastern Ramapo.

"Village leaders recognize the urgent need to increase immunization compliance and pledge support and continued collaboration," the press release reads.

It further states that the village has worked with government, schools and the nearby Refuah Health Center "to provide increased outreach and education aimed at combating vaccine hesitancy and increasing recommended immunizations."

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