Author Topic: Pentagon seeks relief from lower-court order that blocked reassignment of unvaccinated Navy SEALs  (Read 320 times)

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SCOTUSblog by Amy Howe 3/7/2022

EMERGENCY DOCKET

Pentagon seeks relief from lower-court order that blocked reassignment of unvaccinated Navy SEALs

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin implemented a COVID-19 mandate for all active-duty members of the military last August.

The Biden administration on Monday afternoon asked the Supreme Court to allow it to consider whether some members of the elite Navy SEALs are vaccinated against COVID-19 when making operational decisions. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the justices to temporarily block an order by a federal trial court that she says “usurps the Navy’s authority to decide which servicemembers should be deployed to execute some of the military’s most sensitive and dangerous missions.”

A group of 35 servicemembers assigned to the NSWC, including 26 SEALs, went to federal court in Texas, arguing that their religious beliefs bar them from being vaccinated against COVID-19. The Navy’s denial or imminent denial of their requests for religious exemptions, they contended, violates both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Constitution’s free exercise clause.

The district court agreed and blocked the Navy from enforcing its vaccine policies. The district court noted that SEALs had “safely carried out their jobs during the pandemic” and that the Navy could achieve “herd immunity” even if the SEALs remain unvaccinated. The district court also barred the Navy from retaliating against the SEALs for their requests for religious exemptions.

More: https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/03/pentagon-seeks-relief-from-lower-court-order-that-blocked-redeployment-of-unvaccinated-navy-seals/