Produced by Will Reid , Rob Szypko . According to the First Liberty Institute, the public interest law firm representing the service members, each of the denials appeared to be identical, suggesting the Navy had not taken any of the religious exemption requests seriously. "Former Soldiers may petition the Army Discharge Review Board and the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to request corrections to their records," the service's press release said. I think one of the militarys concerns is whats the limiting principle here? Subscribe to Federal Drives daily audio interviews onApple PodcastsorPodcastOne. The Navy granted another 500 administrative exemptions, including temporary waivers for sailors planning to leave the service or in the middle of a permanent change-of-station move, for example. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. Several lawsuits have been filed by sailors opposing the mandate and challenging the Navy's approach to reviewing the religious exemption requests. Rabies shots are required only for some service members in certain career fields. President Joe Biden signed the. The law says that sincerely held religious beliefs are to be taken at face value. Plaintiffs, therefore, do not object to safety measures that reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace, it reads. Theyre basically saying, Nope, the vaccine is the only way that were going to allow you to continue to remain in the service. And one of the things I forgot to mention was the whole concept of natural immunity. All the things that, you know, that the Navy was doing to harass and punish sailors we basically wanted that to all stop, Mike Berry, a former Marine judge advocate and now vice president at First Liberty Institute, which represents the Texas plaintiffs, told Military Times on Wednesday. The Catholic Churchs policy on derived fetal cells has been clear for decades: the sin of abortion is so far removed in pharmaceutical development that a Catholic is not violating any principles by getting vaccinated. The service branches must notify the Pentagon that they've made the changes no later than March 17. Washington Technology Power Breakfast: Cyber Command planning intelligence center, TSP contractor promises more improvements, for other communicable diseases and infections, FOIA backlogs on the rise after record number of requests, Revived bills would alter feds payment obligations during shutdowns, federal first responders pensions, VA launches equity task force to address disparity in benefits decisions based on race, White House $1.6B COVID fraud plan gives federal watchdogs increased staffing, VA deputy secretary, leader on EHR rollout and customer experience, is stepping down. So if you can find a way to accommodate somebodys religious beliefs, in a less burdensome way right, a way thats less obstructive or cumbersome on their religious exercise, then if the person is really sincere in their religious beliefs, theyll usually accept that. The government really cant scrutinize belief very far.. And what if this is political ideology masquerading as as religious piety? It was just a bunch of window dressing, on what was really a foregone conclusion of 100% of religious exemption requests were going to be disapproved, Berry said. Other plaintiffs focus not on the abortion issue, but on several Bible passages that refer to the body as a temple. Court documents show that two plaintiffs in Doster v. Kendall took the two-dose Covaxin vaccine, created in India, to comply with the Pentagons requirement. Right? Were going from a 50-step process to a zero-step process? Duncan asked. Military officials announced this week that, after months of warnings, they have . More than 1.14 million out of the 1.4 million active military members have been fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to DoD data. Similar suits have been brought throughout the country by service members across the military branches. Its just such an inappropriate position for the government to be in.. In response to Military.com stating that the COVID-19 "vaccines have some rare side effects, including heart inflammation that has affected at least 22 service members, according to a study from the JAMA Network," an attorney working with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, and whistle blowers in the U.S. military are pushing back against . That includes protection from an adverse action while their exemptions are in process, a key part of the complaint, according to one of the attorneys on the lawsuit, which alleges that the plaintiffs have been removed from their jobs, flagged for promotion or otherwise hampered during the exemption process. Law firms Latham & Watkins LLP Follow Siri & Glimstad LLP (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking a vast trove of data. WASHINGTON (AP) The military services are still reviewing possible discipline of troops who refused the order to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defense officials told Congress on Tuesday, and they provided few details on how many of those who were forced out of the military would like to return. All rights reserved. Mike Barry: I think theres almost 30 now. According data submitted in the Florida case on Feb. 8: The services have declined to provide any details about the circumstances of the religious approvals, but both lawsuits allege that at least one of those Marines is due to leave service later this year. The lawsuits dont mention other vaccines these troops received either in their childhoods or during service the chicken pox, rubella and hepatitis A vaccines are all required that used descendent fetal cells in development. That means that this is quickly becoming a national security concern. Another claimant, a Muslim Marine Corps captain, who said that his religious beliefs that require him to abstain from participation in that which is haram forbidden including the destruction and commoditization of innocent human life as exemplified by the use of human fetal cell lines derived from abortions, according to the lawsuit. The Air Force number is probably in the same ballpark. The lawyers for the biggest lawsuit against the service said that, after the Navy's policy change on deployment, they were "still assessing the impact of this policy on our Navy SEAL clients and more than 4000 class members," according to a statement released Thursday night. Indeed, Defendants employed such measures during the prior year before COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available.. Jared Serbu: Got it. I know, off the top of my head, the number in the Navy is somewhere near 4,100. And yet were short, were saying that were having a hard time recruiting people. The vaccine mandate divided Americans and has remained a contentious political issue. And in one instance, I saw one of the head people for recruiting in the military said, Were having a really hard time identifying, basically people who are eligible to serve in the military. All told the lawsuit includes 26 SEALs from the original complaint, plus five special warfare combatant crewmen, five divers and one explosive ordnance disposal technician who joined the case in late January. For a population accustomed to having very little power over their personal decisions where they live, what they wear, how they cut their hair, how much they weigh the opportunity to have some control over their medical decisions is an enormous discovery. Just because of the just incredibly political nature of, of all of it, from the virus to the vaccine to the mandates, Marshall Griffin, a retired Coast Guard judge advocate who now practices privately, told Military Times on Monday. Related: Navy Lifts COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for Deployments. Punishing SEALs for simply asking for a religious accommodation is purely vindictive and punitive. The mandate treats comparable secular activity (e.g., medical exemptions) more favorably than religious activity. Theyre not following federal law. And to say, basically, no, you will do this because we said so and if you dont, were gonna kick you out. FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 16, 2022. This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,Judge Reed OConnor said. In the filing, attorneys argue that the plaintiffs are facing criminal conviction and dishonorable discharge, which would strip them of any veterans benefits. 1:51:01 Awkward Andrea Mitchell lectures MSNBC reporter about using term "pro-life" 2:09:32 Baby "chop shop" FOIA lawsuit. The only difference is really is that each branch of the military has their own internal regulations and policies for how they adjudicate these things. In one of many ongoing federal lawsuits challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the country, Judge Reed O'Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a group . "It hasn't done it yet. The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,OConnor wrote, adding: The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. The first lawsuit to garner national attention, filed in Texas late last year, made a splash because its plaintiffs include SEALs, among the most elite of the militarys special operations forces. So our lawsuit is really predicated on on the argument that this is all a sham, that the Air Force is not following the Constitution. What the government will have to prove, in both cases, is that while its granted thousands of medical and administrative exemptions though many of those are temporary that the high bar for approval of religious exemptions is necessary for keeping the force healthy and deployable. [Many] didnt even know that there was a religious exemption option, because they had never been informed of it, Staver said. The World Health Organization approved Covaxin for emergency use in late 2021, making it a viable option for airmen who object to the three main U.S. shots. msn back to msn home news Skip To Navigation Pope Francis has called vaccination against COVID-19 a moral obligation and an act of love., Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts, he said in January, adding that vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.. Copyright 2023 Military.com. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. Just three days later, he issued a far more sweeping order granting 4,095 service members a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine. The three coronavirus vaccines currently available in the United Statesthe Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and, as of Saturday, the Johnson & Johnson versionsare approved on "emergency use. The government has since filed a notice that it plans to appeal the decision. death from COVID-19 vaccines administered after the declaration ends would be addressed in court under tort law unless the COVID-19 vaccines are added to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP; 42 U.S.C. This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal. The decision sets the stage for a future trial or, possibly, the case winding its way up to the Supreme Court. Sarah Parshall Perry is a senior legal fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. 300aa-10-300aa-44). (Susan Walsh/AP, File). The chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. Military leaders have long argued that to maintain unit health and troop readiness, troops have for decades been required to get as many as 17 vaccines, particularly those who are deploying overseas. Any sailors who submitted a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine can continue in the Navy under the injunction, according to NAVADMIN 102/22. The NAVADMIN, referencing the injunction, prevents adverse action against sailors who will not get the COVID-19 vaccine and submitted a religious exemptions request. The Florida case began with a Navy and Marine Corps officer in 2021, but has soon ballooned to 36 plaintiffs from all military branches as well as some civilian Defense Department employees. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution. The Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. Tom Temin is host of the Federal Drive and has been providing insight on federal technology and management issues for more than 30 years. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. 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Each week, Defense Reporter Jared Serbu speaks with the managers of the federal government's largest department. So for example, in a different context, somebody who says that theyre a Sabbath observer, and they cannot work on the Sabbath, but that theyre willing to trade ships with somebody, most of the cases Ive seen, theyre actually willing to take, what most people consider be a less favorable shift. DOD Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. The problem here is that the government is simply unwilling to offer any compromises. And lets start by talking a bit about your clients, where they are in the Air Force vaccine exemption process and what led you to file the suit? The Supreme Court is historically, they only address the legal issues that are brought before them, right. Only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is manufactured using fetal cell lines. Kevin Stitt has pushed back on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the military that would apply to the Oklahoma National Guard. How large is the class? "We are grateful for the support of the Legislature and the Governor in the State's efforts to block the . Essentially, while the Marines applied for exemptions on religious grounds, they were already entitled to a much more straightforward administrative exemption for troops soon to leave service or not currently with their units, which is likely the reason they were approved. The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. It also allows them to restrict sailors' movement "in order to comply with host nation quarantine regulations.". Were pleased that the court has acted to protect our brave warriors before more damage is done to our national security. The latest class action targets the Air Forces religious accommodation process, arguing that process is set up in such a way that getting a religious exemption to the vaccine is almost impossible. Government lawyers argue the policy is in line with well-established principles of judicial noninterference with core military decision making, in their briefs. More than a dozen unidentified U.S. service members have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Defense Department's COVID-19 vaccine order, saying they have natural immunity from. Theyre usually willing to accept that and say, look, yeah, Im happy to. DoD, for its part, settled its own policy with a memo from Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs Terry Adirim last fall. On Monday, Heather Hacker, an attorney for the Navy personnel, said the situation could be seen as worse now for them now that the older mandate policy has been rescinded, because current policy does not provide for a sailors religious objections to the vaccine to be considered when deployment or assignment decisions are made. So thats usually unwise, and so practitioners who are in front of the Supreme Court frequently like us, we usually know not to do that. Mike Berry, general counsel for First Liberty Institute,said: Forcing a service member to choose between their faith and serving their country is abhorrent to the Constitution and Americas values . But if they eventually get consolidated in the Supreme Court grants cert [writs of certiorari] on something that considers the issue more broadly, would you expect that well get a case or a ruling that goes beyond the narrow issue of vaccines and gives the military some guidance as to how RFRA and broader religious accommodation issues apply to the military? The Navy has, however, granted medical exemption requests submitted by other personnel. Biden appointee behind unlawful military vaccine mandate to step down. All rights reserved. I think that a process that is not a sham looks a little bit something like the military regardless of what branch were talking about, takes an honest look and says okay, what is this persons job or their function? Our military, I mean, you can open any news feed that you want. Im willing to go through that. And usually when somebody is willing to go through those measures, that demonstrates a degree of sincerity. And really, the greatest harm here is not just to our members of the military who are suffering under this, but its actually to our nation. Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith means exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk, according to the filing. The World Health Organization approved Covaxin for emergency use in late 2021, making it a viable option for airmen who object to the three main U.S. shots. You got a preliminary injunction in that case and a favorable ruling from the Fifth Circuit. VICP provides compensation for injuries and deaths caused by Fox News U.S. Theres a case to be made for turning these lawsuits into class action matters, Staver said, so that individual service members dont have to sue or just another case. Court Delivers Win to Military Members Denied Religious Exemptions From Pentagon Vaccine Mandate, SCOTUS 101: Student Loans and Major Questions, Unpacking the Oral Arguments Against Bidens Student Loan Cancellation, Appeals Court Steals Show on ERA Amid Senate Panels Bid to Resurrect Dead Amendment, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments. The next stop in the litigation is likely to be an appeal by the Department of Defense and the Biden administration to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Theyre not following their own regulations. On Feb. 17, the service lifted its policy of banning unvaccinated sailors from deploying. The latest lawsuit challenging DoD's COVID-19 vaccine mandate says the Air Force's process makes religious accommodations almost impossible to get. Already, a soldier and Marine have filed a lawsuit arguing that service members who have already recovered from COVID-19 and therefore have natural immunity should be exempt from vaccine mandates, according to the Army Times. He spoke with a reporter last Wednesday but did . And then if you come back and you say, oh, no, but my exemption is a medical exemption [see Contraindications and Precautions]not a religious exemption, then the military says, Oh, well, in that case, we welcome you with open arms. The latest class action targets the Air Forces religious accommodation process, arguing that process is set up in such a way that getting a religious exemption to the vaccine is almost impossible. Earlier in the case: Eglin AFB officers part of federal court challenge to military vaccine mandate Related:Motion to halt military COVID-19 vaccine mandate fails; federal trial date set The 18 . Vaccine refusers often state that the use of fetal cell lines in the creation of the shots conflicts with their views on abortion. When you treat people who have a medical exemption for more favorably than you treat somebody who has a religious exemption, that is textbook discrimination, and thats whats happening. Army leadership has been eyeing the possibility of a mandated COVID-19 vaccine this summer, including in a June information paper originating from the Army's health care operations directorate . Because how do you avoid getting to the point where anyone can deny or refuse any lawful order by claiming that they have a sincerely held religious belief that would be encumbered by it? U.S. Military Service Members with Natural Immunity File Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate. Austin ends the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Ex-soldier, a neo-Nazi, gets 45 years for plot to ambush his own unit, Issues with the Armys Europe-based equipment trigger readiness alarms, Veterans Affairs drops mask requirement for all agency medical offices, How the Marine Corps is preparing for era of contested logistics, Tax scams How to report them Money Minute, Capitol Hill weighs action on two controversial topics: medical marijuana and abortion, Lockheed wins hypersonics contract | Defense Dollars, Go inside a secret nuclear fallout bunker sealed for decades, Perennial pilot shortage puts Air Force in precarious position, Pentagon again denies helping Ukraine attack targets inside Russia. COVID-19 vaccines are proven to be very safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. On Friday, President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, which repeals the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members. The Pentagon directed all the services to "formally rescind any policies, directives, and guidance implementing those vaccination mandates as soon as possible, if they have not already done so," according to a Friday press release. A federal judge in Cincinnati has expanded a temporary exemption to a Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccine mandate to cover thousands of service members in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force,. When they inquired about seeking religious accommodation for the vaccine, the Navy informed many of them that they could face court-martial or involuntary separation if they refused to take the vaccine. Overall, scientific evidence indicates that the benefits of vaccines largely . Telling Plaintiffs they must accept or receive a shot they oppose according to their sincerely held religious beliefs, or face court martial, dishonorable discharge, and other life altering disciplinary measures, disgraces the sacrifices these heroes have made, according to the lawsuit.