The Cook County judge who barred a mother from seeing her son because she wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 also has asked other parents in his courtroom about their vaccination status and admitted to ordering some parents and children to be vaccinated, the Sun-Times has learned.
In both cases, Judge James Shapiro appears to have initiated the discussion of vaccination status.
In the more recent case, Shapiro on Monday revoked his order that had kept a divorced Pilsen mother from seeing her 11-year-old son.
Shapiro’s one-paragraph order in the case of Rebecca Firlit gives no reason for his change of heart, stating simply that “this court hereby VACATES paragraph 3 of its August 11, 2021 order based on the absence of a pleading or hearing on serious endangerment” pursuant to Illinois law.
Annette Fernholz, the attorney representing Firlit, said in her client’s case, the judge was “very much exceeding his judicial authority.”
“I’ve had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past and was advised not to get vaccinated by my doctor. It poses a risk,” Firlit told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Reached Monday, Firlit said: “I’m extremely happy, I’m going to see my son right now.” But she added: “I know that they are going to say that I’m an endangerment to my son. This isn’t over for me.”
Jeffery Leving, attorney for Firlit’s ex-husband Matthew Duiven, called the judge’s reversal “unfortunate.”
“I am working on an emergency motion right now to fight it,” Leving said Monday.
Judge Raised Vaccination Status In Other Cases
In an unrelated child support case in late July, Edward Hambrick of Joliet said, Shapiro was presiding at a virtual court hearing when he asked Hambrick if he’d been vaccinated.
Hambrick, a 48-year-old computer consultant, would not answer, telling the judge it was personal.
Hambrick said he video-recorded his Zoom court hearing, which is against court rules, because of what he said was a bad experience with the court system in the past. He decided to share the video — which he broke up into eight shorter videos on TikTok Sunday — after learning about the judge’s decision against Firlit. The decision has garnered international media attention.
The videos were shot from behind a laptop and focused on Hambrick. The screen is not visible, but both Shapiro and Hambrick can be heard.
The Chicago Sun-Times sent the videos to Mary Wisniewski, director of communications for Chief Judge Tim Evans of Cook County Circuit Court, for verification. She responded in an email, writing “that does sound like Judge Shapiro” and added that it is against court rules to record hearings without prior permission from the chief judge’s office.
In one video, viewed more than 67,000 times, Shapiro brings up the subject of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Have you been vaccinated?” Shapiro asks Hambrick.
A discussion begins over whether the question violates HIPAA, a federal law governing the release of an individual’s health information by health care providers and insurance plans.
Then, Shapiro tells him that “it would behoove you to get vaccinated, sir. … It’s not a personal question because it affects other people, OK? And it does not violate HIPAA.”
Hambrick tells Shapiro that he has consulted with family members who are nurses and doctors.
“I would be very surprised if you consulted with a doctor who advised you not to get vaccinated,” Shapiro says.
“I would not be as surprised if you consulted with a nurse who did not get vaccinated because nurses apparently in Houston and elsewhere are refusing to get vaccinated. That speaks a lot to their intelligence level and I would not want to be treated by a nurse who refused to get vaccinated. It’s not a choice, Mr. Hambrick, it’s an obligation.”
‘It’s Just Dumb Not To Get Vaccinated,’ Judge Says
In another video shot and posted by Hambrick, Shapiro is heard telling another man during a different hearing on the same day that he should be vaccinated and admits to ordering some parents and some children to be vaccinated.
“It’s just dumb not to get vaccinated,” Shapiro tells the man. “Nobody with half a brain is not getting vaccinated these days. The only people not getting vaccinated are dying, OK. So I urge you and your daughter to get vaccinated. It’s stupid not to and I have been ordering parents to get vaccinated and some kids to get vaccinated also. That’s how strongly I feel about the efficacy of this vaccine. Reasonable minds cannot differ about this vaccine.”
Hambrick, who said he is not vaccinated because he feels it is unsafe, said the issue “has absolutely nothing to do with my case.”
Family law attorney Joseph Emmerth, who is based in suburban Warrenville, said Shapiro’s questions are “a disturbing and uncalled-for overreach,” because “somebody’s medical history and medical choices are really not the court’s business to start with.”
Hambrick, who is representing himself, is scheduled to appear in front of Shapiro again on Sept. 21 but has filed a petition for a new judge.
Shapiro did not respond to a request for comment.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Judge Shapiro announced Tuesday that he is recusing himself from the case involving Rebecca Firlit, the mother who was previously barred from seeing her son due to her vaccination status.
In his statement, Shapiro claimed that although he does not believe himself to be unfair or impractical, due to “public perception” (e.i. immense public backlash) he is choosing to step away from the case.
“Although I believe I can be fair and impartial, the Canons of Judicial Ethics speak to the perception of fairness and impartiality as well as fairness and impartiality itself,” he stated. “Public perception may be that I can’t be fair and impartial. Therefore, I am going to recuse myself from further proceedings in this case.”
Across the globe those who decided not to be vaccinated have faced increased threats to their personal liberties. The unprecedented restrictions have far surpassed what many thought possible, considering their unconstitutional nature.
Many governments across the globe are denying the unvaccinated access to select public spaces, jobs, businesses, and the ability to freely travel. Meanwhile, other nations have pressured businesses to do their dirty work to avoid direct mandates which have caused civil unrest.
In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently insisted Americans need to “put aside all of these issues of concern about liberties and personal liberties” and get vaccinated, “otherwise, we’re going to continue to suffer.”
Those opposed to vaccine passports/mandates have routinely been called “Anti-Science,” however, many insist this is far from an accurate representation.
Sen. Ted Cruz recently condemned vaccine mandates, calling them abusive, political, and “not driven by the science.”
“And I think this is just abusive. It is dangerous where these government figures believe they have the right to impose rules on you — rules that they don’t intend to follow,” Cruz asserted. “It’s not driven by the science. It’s driven by the momentary politics. And if you have a reason why medically it’s a bad idea for you to take the vaccine, well, their view is tough for you. Then you lose your job. Then you can’t get on an airplane. Then you can’t go to school. Then you can’t go to a restaurant. Then, apparently, you’re cast into utter darkness.”
“It’s not tied to the science,” the Senator continued. “One example — Dr. Fauci and the CDC and the Biden administration repeatedly ignores natural immunity. It ignores the immunity of tens of millions of people who’ve had COVID. That’s politically inconvenient, so they pretend it doesn’t exist.”
A study recently released from Israel, showed those with natural immunity from previous COVID infection are 13x more protected than those who have been vaccinated.
Terry James, in his recent article, “Foreshadowing the Mark,” explained that the “over-the-top clamor for vaccination compliance” is setting the stage for Biblical prophecy to be fulfilled:
If there is one element of the so-called Covid-19 pandemic that presages Tribulation era Bible prophecy, it is the hue and cry, the over-the-top clamor for vaccination compliance. I say so-called pandemic, because statistics have long since documented that this virus nowhere near reaches the level of previous true pandemics.
Again, I address the topic of the virus with the understanding that it is serious. All such infections are serious and must be dealt with care and common sense. However, it is the common sense aspect that is missing in this so-called pandemic. It is a manufactured pandemic with a biblically prophetic attachment that should not be missed by the spiritually-attuned believer.
Many who look critically at this unprecedented drive to make all on earth compliant with vaccine acceptance believe it is all setting up worldwide embrace of the marks and numbering system of Revelation 13:16-18.—i.e., it is all a blueprint for control of the populations on earth during the time of Antichrist’s rule.
Control is the operative term in consideration of the drive toward vaccination, the likes of which has never been seen, planet-wide. Whether the vaccines are a justifiable means of controlling the virus or its variants is open to considerable conjecture. Time will perhaps tell if they are what they are claimed by CDC and others to be. –Or whether they are a means of bringing down populations –a claim that, while I don’t wholeheartedly accept, should, in my view, be granted some degree of credence. The stated goal of some globalists is to bring the world’s population down to under 500 million people, as engraved on the so-called Georgia Guidestone.
Control is what Antichrist will demand when instituting his 666 marks-and-numbering system. It seems that a considerable percentage of the world’s population is willingly susceptible (compliant) in eagerly taking a shot upon demand by those who want to rule rather than govern in most cases–at least from my perspective.
If you know Jesus Christ for salvation, according to Romans 10:9-10, you will never have to worry about taking Antichrist’s mark. The current vaccinations for COVID, or for any other disease, is not that prophesied mark. It will come on the scene during the Tribulation, after the Rapture of the Church.
Whether you choose to take the vaccine or choose to resist taking it, the process, whether beneficial or detrimental in terms of human health, itself is, without question in my mind, part of a control process being implemented by the powers and principalities of Ephesians 6:12.
