The same day the Pentagon set the deadline for the services, several of the branches -- namely the Army and Air Force -- began issuing their guidance, which stated they would remove or correct adverse actions in records related to vaccine refusal. The quickest vaccine ever developed was for mumps. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack. Judge Matthew McFarlands decision brings the case, Doster v. Kendall, closer to trial as a class-action lawsuit. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek declined to comment on ongoing litigation and how it may affect how the service handles religious accommodation requests. But it may not take a lawsuit for the issue to change the environment when it comes to mandatory vaccination. I think one of the militarys concerns is whats the limiting principle here? VICP provides compensation for injuries and deaths caused by 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. They argue that their. But nevertheless, how many, I fly almost on a weekly basis for my job. The new policy guidance to the services makes no mention of reinstating service members who were separated from the military for refusing the shot. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. 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. 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. A vaccine lawsuit is filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, instead of regular state or federal courts like other drug injury claims. And that is textbook discrimination, right? (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. In the filing, attorneys argue that the plaintiffs are facing criminal conviction and dishonorable discharge, which would strip them of any veterans benefits. The Department of the Air Force, which also issues guidance for the Space Force, has detailed it will be rescinding letters of admonishment, counseling or reprimand; records of individual counseling; nonjudicial punishments; and current involuntary discharge proceedings connected to vaccine refusal. Indeed, Defendants employed such measures during the prior year before COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available.. Ryan Bruce, a Marine Corps spokesman, told Military.com. 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. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. Dr. Lee Merritt, a self-described Navy surgeon, stated during an . Complainants push back on the militarys position that remaining unvaccinated endangers the force and undermines national security, since the vast majority of troops have received all of a one- or two-shot regimen. Punishing SEALs for simply asking for a religious accommodation is purely vindictive and punitive. So I think that if one of these cases does end up in front of the Supreme Court, it will probably be addressed just on the narrow vaccine issue. Editors note: This story has been updated with information from the hearing. 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. Produced by Will Reid , Rob Szypko . Overall, scientific evidence indicates that the benefits of vaccines largely . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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. They will also have to make the case that vaccinating, or involuntarily discharging, every service member is the least restrictive means of keeping the force safe from COVID-19, rather than enforcing masking or social distancing or in some cases, grandfathering in troops who acquired some immunity after catching COVID-19. You got a preliminary injunction in that case and a favorable ruling from the Fifth Circuit. 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. msn back to msn home news Skip To Navigation Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith means exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk, according to the filing. All rights reserved. And to say, basically, no, you will do this because we said so and if you dont, were gonna kick you out. Yes, many of them have brought that and its a rubber stamp rejection, he said. "I am proud of the efforts the Department of the Army has taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Wormuth said. 26 Feb 2023 11:38:25 Whats clear is that the COVID-19 has broken open a bit of a wormhole in the military. Related: Navy Lifts COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for Deployments. There are some notable caveats. 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? Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. 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. 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. Still, the organization said Covaxin is still a safe and effective product. But what we cant do is say, well, because they ruled this way, in this case, this is how theyre going to rule in all cases. There was no indication when the judges would rule. 11. Other federal court challenges to various COVID-19 vaccine mandates are ongoing. 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 ended the inoculation mandate last month. 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. The Justice Department intends to appeal the Texas ruling, while a temporary injunction in the Florida case expires Friday. And in some cases, according to some reports, its even more durable than the vaccine and you dont have to get boosters and things like that. 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 . More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the virus began spreading in December 2019, and the U.S. has recorded around 89 million cases. Mike Barry: I think theres almost 30 now. [Many] didnt even know that there was a religious exemption option, because they had never been informed of it, Staver said. 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 though Bidens vaccine mandate for military personnel has been rescinded. But in terms of the underlying legal issues that are raised, no, theyre exactly the same. Mike Barry:Well, I mean, thats the beauty of the way that the law works, right? (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.). 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. Of course, that came because of a federal judges ruling. 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. Another plaintiff is fighting in court after trying to retire one alternative to vaccination the Air Force offered. A 5th Circuit panel rejected the Biden administrations request to block the judges order. The Air Force number is probably in the same ballpark. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. The story seems pretty similar to whats going on with these airmen. Because they will not compromise these religious beliefs, Plaintiffs have been threatened with separation from the military and other disciplinary action. Just three days later, he issued a far more sweeping order granting 4,095 service members a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine. The Navy already denied these exemptions, but O'Connor. In his order, OConnor granted an injunction against the Biden administration and the Department of Defense, preventing them from enforcing the vaccine mandate against any of the named service members who had applied for a religious exemption. A dozen U.S. Air Force officers have filed a lawsuit . A group of lawsuit plaintiffs, including four Air Force officers and a Secret Service agent, have asked a federal court to block the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccination mandates,. The service members sued this week to vacate a Pentagon vaccine mandate for all those in the military, arguing they face imminent harm if a court order isn't issued temporarily blocking the. Military officials announced this week that, after months of warnings, they have . 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 . 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. Lawyers for a group of Navy SEALS and other Navy personnel who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons told a 5th U.S. In January of last year, a federal judge in Texas barred the Navy from taking any action against the Navy plaintiffs for being unvaccinated. However, in a strange turn of events, while Bolsonaro was eating Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes in Orlando, a group of Bolsonaristas (supporters of Bolsonaro) attacked the Brazilian Supreme Court, Congress, and Presidential Palace in Brasilia and called for a military coup.Lula blamed Bolsonaro personally for the attacks; Moraes quickly moved to suspend Brasilia's governor and security chief . "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. Here, Plaintiffs must decide whether to lose their livelihoods or violate sincerely held religious beliefs. 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. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted an injunction against discipline of an Air Force officer whose religious exemption had been denied. Were going from a 50-step process to a zero-step process? Duncan asked. Mike Barry is senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal group that focuses on religious liberty issues. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. 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. 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 Air Force Department had received more than 12,000 religious exemption requests, denying over 3,000 of them and with roughly 2,000 still in adjudication. As part of the exemption process, service members are required to meet with a chaplain to work through their concerns. Military service members have. The fetal cells were not used to produce either vaccine, National Geographic reported last fall. 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. 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. And the way that they are accomplishing their compelling interest is the least restrictive means on the persons religious beliefs. More:Dark money group targets Oklahoma Gov. 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. The lawsuit filed by Air Force members and other federal employees claims that "the US Constitution and numerous federal laws make it unlawful to compel persons to be vaccinated." The plaintiffs. The judge agreed, issuing an injunction against discipline for the sailors on Jan. 3. The mandate treats comparable secular activity (e.g., medical exemptions) more favorably than religious activity. 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,. Quite the contrary, they view life whether their own or that of their fellow servicemembers as sacred and deserving protection.. The primary protest centers around fetal stem cells, which may or may not have originated with an aborted pregnancy. President Joe Biden signed the. This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,Judge Reed OConnor said. Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine syringes at a vaccination clinic in the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Jan. 26, 2022. The Supreme Court is reviewing a legal shield that tech companies have long relied on to avoid liability for content on their platforms. That is especially true when the government imposes a choice between ones job and ones religious belief. Staver, the attorney for the Florida plaintiffs, said his clients have shared their exemption rejection letters, which do not detail specifically why their requests werent approved. "We are grateful for the support of the Legislature and the Governor in the State's efforts to block the . The Navy SEALS filed their lawsuit in November of 2021, describing what they saw as a cumbersome 50-step process to obtain religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. 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. Need help accessing the FCC Public File due to a disability? But there may be good reason for that. 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. 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. 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Adam Rawnsley. 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. The Florida case also expands the arguments past the religious exemption process, citing a handful of other arguments made by COVID-19 vaccine detractors. And, in fact, the Department of Defense allows medical exemptions and administrative exemptions from the vaccine. The decision sets the stage for a future trial or, possibly, the case winding its way up to the Supreme Court. They are, theyre ignoring the law, theyre ignoring the Constitution. On August 30, both Robert and Mulvihill asked U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Moore for a temporary restraining order regarding the vaccinations for military members who have already been. Theyll accept that alternative and say, okay, you know, Im willing to do that instead. Our lawsuit is certainly centered on religious exemption, but our lawsuit is broader than that to block the mandate in general of a non-FDA approved product, Staver said. Their objections to the vaccine fall into one of four categories, according to their complaint, including opposition to abortion and the use of fetal cell lines in pharmaceutical development, belief that body modification violates their religious principles, direct, divine instruction not to receive the vaccine, or declining to inject trace amounts of animal cells into ones body.. "There are no current COVID-19 vaccine restrictions on deployments or assignments for the Marine Corps as a service," Capt. We are hemorrhaging people like crazy, and were having a really hard time recruiting capable people to join our military. The vaccine mandate for military personnel was put in place in August, with a deadline of Sept. 15. The Navy has, however, granted medical exemption requests submitted by other personnel. Similar to the Navy, the Marine Corps is no longer stopping unvaccinated Marines from deployments. Per FDA guidance, these two vaccines are interchangeable and DoD health care providers should use doses distributed under the EUA to administer the vaccination series as if the doses were the licensed vaccine, " she wrote. And our clients are, theyre stationed in various locations, quite a few of them are here in Texas. On Jan. 10, the DOD officially rescinded its Aug. 24, 2021, and Nov. 30, 2021, memoranda mandating that all members of the U.S. military, including the National Guard and Ready Reserves, take the emergency use authorization COVID-19 shots or face discharge and other disciplinary measures. Plaintiffs sincerely held religious beliefs that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that they are to glorify God with their bodies lays the foundation for everything they do, consume, or inject into their bodies, according to the Florida lawsuit. And in fact, he said, the exemption process is fraught in and of itself. 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. 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 Heritage Foundation, a petitioner in the case challenging the private-sector vaccine mandate,has asked the courtto invalidate the governments order. But Im willing to do that. There are fresh concerns that public support for ongoing military assistance may be waning. The Pentagon formally dropped the requirement in January following a December vote in Congress to end the mandate. Attorneys for the unvaccinated Navy personnel argued in briefs to the 5th Circuit that Austins memo and other Defense Department actions show that the Navy still intends to treat unvaccinated personnel like second-class citizens because of their religious beliefs.. But Islamic tradition does not discourage vaccination, and doesnt forbid abortion before 17 weeks gestation, with even more leeway if the health of the mother is in jeopardy or if there are life-threatening fetal abnormalities. And they have different ranks, different different job responsibilities in the Air Force, a number of them are actually pilots in the Air Force. 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. Johnson & Johnson uses cells replicated from a fetus aborted in 1985 to produce its vaccine, but those cells are filtered out from the final product. 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. While vials contain the same formula, some have made the argument that because providers are still giving the emergency-use Pfizer version, no one can be compelled to get vaccinated until the Comirnaty-labeled vials are in circulation. They dont offer what are, in the legal speak, we call advisory opinions. The law says that sincerely held religious beliefs are to be taken at face value. The latest lawsuit challenging DoD's COVID-19 vaccine mandate says the Air Force's process makes religious accommodations almost impossible to get. 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. "Marines will defer to Combatant Command policies regarding deployments.". New family, former Corvias employee join lawsuit against Fort . All of the military services have released vaccine refusal policies, none of them involving judicial or non-judicial charges for simply staying unvaccinated. Everyone who joins the military must receive a slate of several vaccines to enter, including chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A. So that, right now that number is several thousand. A timeline of when vaccines are due was left up to the . All rights reserved. They include the small risk of myocarditis, which has anecdotally occurred in 1,626 U.S. residents out of more than 200 million fully vaccinated, with the highest risk in men under 24. Nov. 2, 2021. Underthat law, the government may substantially burden a persons exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that burden is (1) in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. While in Texas, the sailors offered descriptions of their jobs, in Florida, the biographical information goes into training, deployments and expertise, attempting to make the case that their involuntary discharges would be a huge loss. Theres yet another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate. President Biden declared "the pandemic is over," yet is still pushing to discharge thousands of religious service members for their objections to taking the COVID-19 vaccine. 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. Technology Artificial Intelligence Ask the CIO Automation Big Data CIO News Cloud Computing Cybersecurity IT Modernization Open Data/Transparency Reporter's Notebook Defense On DoD Army Navy Air Force Our military, I mean, you can open any news feed that you want. Theyre usually willing to accept that and say, look, yeah, Im happy to. Another difference is that the VICP is a no-fault compensation program. The problem here is that the government is simply unwilling to offer any compromises. The government burdens religion when it put[s] substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs.. The government really cant scrutinize belief very far.. However, vaccine opponents note that commanders can still make decisions on how and whether to deploy unvaccinated troops, under a memo signed last month by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The military across the board is discriminating discriminating against people of faith. 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 . All 16 service members joined the lawsuit anonymously, listing in the filing only their currently assigned bases and statuses in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or reserve components. 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. Jared Serbu: Last thing, theres a lot of these vaccine cases, even just military vaccine cases floating around in various district courts and circuits the moment. 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. 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. Rabies shots are required only for some service members in certain career fields. The Army reported about 1,300 religious requests, none of which have been approved, as well as six medical exemptions. 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. 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? 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. And I havent heard of a single Starbucks shutting down. If you want to swap with me, and they do that through the employer, or their employer offers that. The lawsuits do not offer details from these meetings, nor do they state that the plaintiffs consulted with experts in their own religious communities before making their decisions to refuse vaccination. 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. 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 chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. 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.