Copyright 2023 Military.com. 2:14:14 Pentagon exploring back pay for troops kicked out of military over vaccine mandate. And youll see headline after headline talking about the recruiting and retention woes that plague our military right now. 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. The Heritage Foundation, a petitioner in the case challenging the private-sector vaccine mandate,has asked the courtto invalidate the governments order. COVID-19 vaccines are proven to be very safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. [Many] didnt even know that there was a religious exemption option, because they had never been informed of it, Staver said. 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. Could the Supreme Court strike down the military's vaccination mandate? Theyre not pleasant. 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. There are fresh concerns that public support for ongoing military assistance may be waning. Mike Barry:No, I think what happens is they become much smaller cases, right? If you want to swap with me, and they do that through the employer, or their employer offers that. OConnor ruled that the blanket denial of their religious waiver requests amounted to a violation of the service members rights under the First Amendment andthe Religious Freedom Restoration Act. If the court certifies the class does the class become all unvaccinated airmen or everyone whos been denied a religious exemption? The Navy began issuing guidance to sailors earlier this month. This whole thing is really unprecedented, right? The Navy has, however, granted medical exemption requests submitted by other personnel. And yet were short, were saying that were having a hard time recruiting people. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.). Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek declined to comment on ongoing litigation and how it may affect how the service handles religious accommodation requests. The Marine Corps had fielded 3,500 religious waiver requests, granting three, in addition to about 250 medical waivers and 400 other administrative approvals. We are kicking out people by the thousands. 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 The Supreme Court is historically, they only address the legal issues that are brought before them, right. Lawmakers expressed frustration with the news . Judge Matthew McFarlands decision brings the case, Doster v. Kendall, closer to trial as a class-action lawsuit. Then in April, the WHO warned that. 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. The Army reported about 1,300 religious requests, none of which have been approved, as well as six medical exemptions. 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. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said in the press release that the service is still, however, encouraging vaccinations. But in terms of the underlying legal issues that are raised, no, theyre exactly the same. The fetal cells were not used to produce either vaccine, National Geographic reported last fall. 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. Here's the Army rule for vaccine refusals, which service leaders 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. Service members file lawsuit over Pentagon's coronavirus vaccine 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. Eglin AFB officers part of federal court challenge to military COVID More:Dark money group targets Oklahoma Gov. 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 NAVADMIN, referencing the injunction, prevents adverse action against sailors who will not get the COVID-19 vaccine and submitted a religious exemptions request. The Air Force has approved 135 religious exemption requests out of thousands submitted so far. Compensation Programs for Potential COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries - Congress The service branches must notify the Pentagon that they've made the changes no later than March 17. "We are grateful for the support of the Legislature and the Governor in the State's efforts to block the . 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. U.S. Military Service Members with Natural Immunity File Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate. Please contact Susan Rushkowski at publicfiledc@hubbardradio.com or (202) 895-5027. Navy COVID-19 Vaccine Separations Drop as Injunction Takes Hold 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. 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. The Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. To date, no members of the Army or Space Force have received a religious exemption, though nine airmen and three Marines have been approved. Mike Barry:It would be everyone who is requested and been denied a religious accommodation from the vaccine mandates, specifically the COVID vaccine mandate. 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.. A timeline of when vaccines are due was left up to the . 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.. Other plaintiffs focus not on the abortion issue, but on several Bible passages that refer to the body as a temple. 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. The Navy already denied these exemptions, but O'Connor. 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? Peter Hill: Stats shown illness up in the military after COVID vaccine WASHINGTON (AP) A bill to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense passed the House on Thursday as. New family, former Corvias employee join lawsuit against Fort . 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. The lawsuit is one of two that have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the military has imposed mandatory vaccination deadlines that have since lapsed for all of the services and their components, save the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Im willing to go through that. And usually when somebody is willing to go through those measures, that demonstrates a degree of sincerity. Until any harm is remedied, according to Bruns, the case is still active. Tom Temin is host of the Federal Drive and has been providing insight on federal technology and management issues for more than 30 years. 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. 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Military members opposed to vaccines seek legal help | wusa9.com The Texas case has smaller aspirations purposely, Berry said. More than 60,000 Army soldiers losing pay, benefits over vaccine 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. But Im willing to do that. FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 16, 2022. House passes defense bill scrapping military's Covid vaccine mandate Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. 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. Military service members have. And is there somewhere else we can assign them where maybe theyre at less risk of of COVID transmission or they start looking at the data, right, the actual CDC data and the COVID day they start look kicking it around and saying, You know what? Cincinnati federal judge blocks Air Force, Air National Guard - FOX19 And so all of them have requested religious accommodations from the vaccine mandate, which is, of course, something that DoD regulations and even federal law, clearly permit and allow. The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. 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. More than 800 unvaccinated service members have been ousted from the Air Force so far. And, in fact, the Department of Defense allows medical exemptions and administrative exemptions from the vaccine. Because they will not compromise these religious beliefs, Plaintiffs have been threatened with separation from the military and other disciplinary action. 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. Brazil's Emerging Judicial Dictatorship Well, what if somebodys not really sincere? They argue that their 1st Amendment rights are being infringed upon, because their sincerely held religious beliefs prevent them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. There was no indication when the judges would rule. And both lawsuits include arguments that the plaintiffs prayed on the issue and came to the conclusion that vaccination would violate their principles. 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. Dr Terry Adirim, the government bureaucrat behind the infamous and unlawful Pentagon vaccine mandate, will "leave her post in the coming days," reports FedScoop. 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.