Federal Judge Blocks for Entire Navy Biden’s Pentagon Vaccine Mandate

[mystery-ak]

Federal Judge Blocks for Entire Navy Biden’s Pentagon Vaccine Mandate

Kristina Wong 29 Mar 2022

A federal district court on Monday granted a motion that would treat all sailors with religious objections to Biden’s Pentagon vaccine mandate as part of a single class in a lawsuit brought against the agency by First Liberty on behalf of 35 Navy SEALs.

Judge Reed O’Connor for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the 35 Navy SEALs suing the Department of Defense for infringing on their religious freedoms will be seen as representatives of all sailors with religious objections to the vaccine mandate.

This effectively means that in addition to the SEALs, whose case is still in litigation and are therefore exempt from separation from the Navy, the DOD cannot separate any sailor with a religious objection to the vaccine mandate while the case is pending, perhaps numbering close to 4,000.

The federal court had previously blocked the Pentagon from taking any actions against the Navy SEALs in making deployment, assignment and other operation decisions, but the Supreme Court lifted that injunction last week in a setback to the SEALs. However, the Navy still cannot discharge them.

O’Connor stated in his decision:

The Court also GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class-Wide Preliminary Injunction, but immediately STAYS the injunction “insofar as it precludes the Navy from considering respondents’ vaccination status in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/29/federal-judge-blocks-for-entire-navy-bidens-pentagon-vaccine-mandate/

[Elderberry]

Navy barred from acting against religious vaccine refusers

Navy Times

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/03/29/navy-barred-from-acting-against-religious-vaccine-refusers/

A federal judge in Texas is barring the Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had in January issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the Navy’s vaccine policy while their case played out. On Monday, O’Connor agreed the case could go forward as a class action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction covering the approximately 4,000 sailors who have objected on religious grounds to being vaccinated.

O’Connor said the larger group of sailors shared common characteristics with those who had sued. They had asked for and been denied an exemption to the vaccine requirement on religious grounds and were facing the threat of being discharged from the Navy, O’Connor wrote.

“Even though their personal circumstances may factually differ in small ways, the threat is the same — get the jab or lose your job,” wrote O’Connor, who was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last year made vaccinations mandatory for service members. More than 99% of the Navy’s active duty force has been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the Navy has also discharged 650 people for refusing to be vaccinated. Navy guidelines allow for exemptions to the vaccine requirement on religious and other grounds, including medical reasons and if a service member is about to leave the Navy.

Lawyers for the group of sailors who sued, most of them Navy SEALs, argue that the Navy had granted hundreds of exemptions for medical and administrative reasons but granted no religious exemptions for active duty and reserve service members. Nine inactive reserve members have been granted religious exemptions.

Mike Berry, the director of military affairs for First Liberty Institute, which is representing the sailors, said in a statement following O’Connor’s action that it’s “time for our military to honor its constitutional obligations and grant religious accommodations for service members with sincere religious objections to the vaccine.”

More at link.