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? I know, off the top of my head, the number in the Navy is somewhere near 4,100. 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. More than 60 service members have joined lawsuits against the U.S. government, alleging that the militarys process for awarding religious vaccine exemptions is a sham. msn back to msn home news Skip To Navigation By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square) Military leaders will testify on Tuesday before the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee about the impact of the Department of Defense's COVID-19 vaccine mandate on DOD employees and military service members. Lawyers for a group of Navy SEALS and other Navy personnel who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons told a 5th U.S. The Navy on Wednesday announced it had granted one waiver to a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, a non-drilling service member, who would have to get vaccinated should he or she come on orders. Copyright 2023 Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. Many religious exemption applications have explained that the service members werent aware of the use of fetal stem cells prior to all of the controversy over the COVID-19 vaccine, but for the purposes of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, they dont have to explain themselves. Jared Serbu: This case seems remarkably similar to another case that I think First Liberty was also counsel on with a group of Navy SEALs before the very same judge, I believe too. This means that you do not need to prove that your injury was caused by a doctor or the vaccine company's mistake. WASHINGTON The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the. And at least in the Starbucks is that Ive been in recently where theyve been packed in like sardines. Researchers cultivate these cells for generations, using their derivatives to create or test all manner of pharmaceutical products. 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. And our clients are, theyre stationed in various locations, quite a few of them are here in Texas. Through much prayer and reflection, Plaintiffs have sought wisdom, understanding, and guidance on the proper decisions to make concerning these COVID-19 vaccines, and Plaintiffs have been convicted by the Holy Spirit that accepting any of the three currently available vaccines is against the teachings of Scripture and would be a sin, according to a Florida lawsuit first filed in late 2021, then amended on Feb. 7 with additional plaintiffs. NEW ORLEANS Federal appeals court judges closely questioned a Biden administration attorney Monday on the consequences military personnel might face for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations, even. More:Dark money group targets Oklahoma Gov. This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,OConnor said: As a brief preview, the vaccine mandate fails strict scrutiny. More than 60 service members have joined lawsuits against the U.S. government, alleging that the military's process for awarding religious vaccine exemptions is a sham. Government lawyers argue the policy is in line with well-established principles of judicial noninterference with core military decision making, in their briefs. The Navy has, however, granted medical exemption requests submitted by other personnel. The chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. 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 appellate judge has dealt another blow to the military's coronavirus vaccine mandate by allowing a high-profile class-action lawsuit against the Air Force to move forward. The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Theres yet another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate. 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. The story seems pretty similar to whats going on with these airmen. Plaintiffs, therefore, do not object to safety measures that reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace, it reads. 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. "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. Jared Serbu: I want to go back to what you said earlier about the process being a sham, because I want to try and draw how much of an issue that actually is, in these cases. They have similar objections to their Texas counterparts, from opposition to abortion to concerns about modifying their bodies. Both cases are in a wait-and-see phase, where judges have granted injunctions against any discipline for vaccine refusal while the government responds to requests for information. They argue that their. Produced by Will Reid , Rob Szypko . While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. The goal, representatives for the plaintiffs say, is to at least secure religious exemptions for their clients, but potentially see a Supreme Court ruling that would apply to all service members. Mondays arguments were heard by Duncan and Ho, both nominated to the 5th Circuit by President Donald Trump, and James Graves, a nominee of President Barack Obama. From this foundation they make studied and reasonable decisions about what is good and what is not good or may not be good for their bodies.. FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 16, 2022. There was no indication when the judges would rule. All rights reserved. He has criticized the Air Force for what he sees as a failure to carefully consider the merits of each exemption request and instead sweepingly reject them. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. Here, Plaintiffs must decide whether to lose their livelihoods or violate sincerely held religious beliefs. They are, theyre ignoring the law, theyre ignoring the Constitution. Thats really prohibited by the by the courts considering these types of cases. Simply put, no actual fetal cells were used in the development of any of the COVID-19 vaccines the cells in question were replicated by scientists, in labs, from tissue harvested previously. Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine was developed and cleared for emergency use in eight months a fact . Mike Barry: I think theres almost 30 now. The problem here is that the government is simply unwilling to offer any compromises. The "rule" and the ways it will be fought 1:43:40 How to fight the NFA and its unconstitutional rule about barrel lengths. Given the prevailing public health guidelines and the state of the virus, there is currently no intention to require universal vaccination of all service members, Ross said. Judge Matthew McFarlands decision brings the case, Doster v. Kendall, closer to trial as a class-action lawsuit. The judge's decision impacts 200 to 300 servicemembers stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, who filed the lawsuit against top military leaders back in February. 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While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. If you want to swap with me, and they do that through the employer, or their employer offers that. This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,Judge Reed OConnor said. The lawsuit attempts to overturn Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's order that active-duty service members are required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The government has since filed a notice that it plans to appeal the decision. 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? In a hypothetical alternate universe where it were the Navy and the Air Force, the rest of the services had an exemption process or a waiver process that did look more credible to you and to the court, do you lose these cases? Similar to the Navy, the Marine Corps is no longer stopping unvaccinated Marines from deployments. 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? Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. T he MAGA medical group that spent the pandemic pushing horse paste and malaria meds as quack COVID cures has a new crusade: suing the Pentagon to stop its vaccine mandate. The Florida case, in a 187-page complaint, takes measures much further. 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. (U.S. Navy) Two service members filed a class action lawsuit against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to halt a mandate that all troops receive the coronavirus vaccine and create an exemption. 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. I mean, all of it is just fraught with ideological purpose, and suspected purpose.. And, in fact, the Department of Defense allows medical exemptions and administrative exemptions from the vaccine. Nov. 2, 2021. The mandate treats comparable secular activity (e.g., medical exemptions) more favorably than religious activity. And so of course, that means you have to bring different lawsuits on behalf of people, depending on what branch of the military that theyre in. Same thing on airplanes, right? We are kicking out people by the thousands. It took four years and was licensed in 1967. The content of this website reflects the current thinking of the United States Department of Health and Human Services on the topics addressed and does not create or confer any rights for or on any person and does not operate to bind the Department or the public. 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. The question is, whats the bigger risk to readiness: Discharging skilled, expensively trained service members for refusing to get vaccinated, or allowing them to continue serving with the potential to become infected with COVID-19, experience serious illness and potentially long-lasting side effects? A ruling in that case, issued this past November by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, upheld previous wins by attorneys representing the service members over the last year and took aim at the Air Force's process of approving religious exemptions. And well be back week after week.. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. The latest data from the military show that roughly 30,000 active-duty service members remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, despite a Defense Department mandate issued in August and deadlines. The Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. . Most of the plaintiffs express some sort of Christian faith, though the vast majority of denominations have no formal ban on vaccination. The judge recognized that when he granted our [temporary restraining order] on Feb. 2 because toward the end, he said the public has an interest also in this because these are courageous skilled, individuals who are not easily replaceable, Staver said. Theyre not following their own regulations. The Marine Corps confirmed to a California congressman that two of those Marines were preparing to leave the service, while another one is doing a Training With Industry assignment. Jared Serbu: Got it. So if they work Sunday afternoon, or if theyre scheduled to work a particular Sunday afternoon, they say, Well, Im a Sabbath observer on Sundays. DOD Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., It is not yet clear how the various services will handle pending lawsuits that sprang up in the years following the Pentagon's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. They become the exception and not the norm. So that, right now that number is several thousand. OConnormade note of thisin his order, calling the process for seeking a religious exemption nothing more than theater, stating that the Navy merely rubber-stamps each denial, and stressing that the record overwhelmingly demonstrates that the Navys religious-accommodation process is an exercise in futility.. While powerful, that statement isnt true. Fox News U.S. The Texas case has smaller aspirations purposely, Berry said. Other service members have struck out on their own to fight the mandate. Pfizer Inc wants to intervene in a Texas federal lawsuit seeking information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used in licensing the company's COVID-19 vaccine, a litigation move that . The Navy lawsuit is one of several ongoing legal challenges to the military branches' policies on religious exemptions to the DoD COVID-19 vaccine mandate. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Monday blocking the Defense Department from taking action against a group of 35 Navy sailors who had refused to get a coronavirus vaccine,. The latest lawsuit challenging DoD's COVID-19 vaccine mandate says the Air Force's process makes religious accommodations almost impossible to get. Military service members have. And I have yet to hear of a single flight being canceled because there was a COVID outbreak at 30,000 feet. The US military has approved religious exemptions to its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for 15 service members out of approximately 16,000 requests, according to the latest data from the services. Top Pentagon officials do not plan to alter their current "lawful orders" requiring the coronavirus shots for troops, unless they are granted waivers for medical or religious purposes, the. The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. Troops who refuse mandatory COVID-19 vaccines will likely also face courts-martial for the same offense, said Zaid, who represented Task & Purpose in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to force . At 1,038, the Marine Corps leads the military branches for the most separations. And they recognize that theres almost a presumption of belief. AFLDS has also pushed ivermectin and. The Army also announced in a Friday press release that ongoing reviews of COVID vaccine exemption requests, records of soldiers who requested COVID vaccine exemptions, vaccine requirements for accessions or pre-commissioning programs, and travel restrictions based solely on COVID vaccination status will be removed or amended. A timeline of when vaccines are due was left up to the . Although certain COVID-19 vaccines are associated with a slightly increased risk of blood clotting or heart inflammation, COVID-19 itself is associated with a higher rate of these and other conditions. You got a preliminary injunction in that case and a favorable ruling from the Fifth Circuit. And to say, basically, no, you will do this because we said so and if you dont, were gonna kick you out. 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It also allows them to restrict sailors' movement "in order to comply with host nation quarantine regulations.". The vaccine mandate divided Americans and has remained a contentious political issue. Lt. Col. Edward Stapanon, a Catholic instructor pilot at the 435th Fighter Training Squadron in Texas, said he requested retirement twice but was turned down because he hasnt finished out an extension of his active duty service commitment that ends in 2024. Subscribe on PodcastOne or Apple Podcasts. Theyre not following federal law. And one of the reasons for that is if they if theyre between the ages of 17 and 23, and theyre not vaccinated, were not even willing to talk to them. And so theyre basically closing off an entire segment of society in a discriminatory manner. Two Eglin Air Force base officers are among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. military personnel. 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 Religious Freedom Restoration Act sets a low bar for proving ones religious beliefs, in that if someone states them, they are assumed to be sincere. Only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is manufactured using fetal cell lines. Im willing to go through that. And usually when somebody is willing to go through those measures, that demonstrates a degree of sincerity. On Jan. 7,the Supreme Court is set to hear oral argumentsin a set of high-profile, consolidated cases on the Biden administrations vaccine mandates for private-sector entities with 100 or more employees, and for health care facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding. The lawsuit, in which 14 men and two women serving in the military are named as plaintiffs, names U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, three U.S. military service secretaries and other. Additionally, "promotion records will be corrected by the [Department of the Air Force] who will remove or redact all adverse actions related to vaccine refusal," according to a Friday press release. Everyone who joins the military must receive a slate of several vaccines to enter, including chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A. Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. And thats why this is a sham.Jared Serbu: The Air Force case is a putative class action. Night shifts arent popular, especially on Friday night, and things like that. 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. But Im willing to do that. And yet were short, were saying that were having a hard time recruiting people. All of the military services are currently reworking their policies to adjust separation and promotion records for service members who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, after the Pentagon. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Whats clear is that the COVID-19 has broken open a bit of a wormhole in the military. The Texas lawsuit also states the plaintiffs are willing to continue to wear masks, social distance and take mandatory COVID-19 tests, rather than get vaccinated. They dont offer what are, in the legal speak, we call advisory opinions. The Marine Corps separated 165 Marines over the past week due to their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Members of the U.S. military who haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19 are starting to face the consequences. Indeed, Defendants employed such measures during the prior year before COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available.. Mike Barry: Probably not at the Supreme Court level. Ryan Bruce, a Marine Corps spokesman, told Military.com. Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. It is a danger of, you know, the government saying, Well, hey, heres what your faith tradition teaches, you should follow that, " Griffin said. The group includes 14 men and two women. 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. Other federal court challenges to various COVID-19 vaccine mandates are ongoing. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that federal court injunctions against the mandate are still needed, in part because decisions on deployments and assignments can still be made based on vaccination status. That is especially true when the government imposes a choice between ones job and ones religious belief. 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. Lawyers are waiting to see if a federal court in Georgia will stop the vaccine mandate nationwide through another class-action preliminary injunction as well. Are there major differences here? The Supreme Court ruled in March 2022 that the sea service was allowed to reassign sailors who had refused the shot and filed exemption requests to nonoperational commands. The decision sets the stage for a future trial or, possibly, the case winding its way up to the Supreme Court. More than 800 unvaccinated service members have been ousted from the Air Force so far. In the Ohio case, 2nd Lt. Hunter Doster of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and more than a dozen other plaintiffs argue the Air Force is forcing them to lose their livelihoods or violate their religious beliefs by receiving vaccines they say are impure or have ties to abortion.
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