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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. 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.. The law says that sincerely held religious beliefs are to be taken at face value. Mike Barry: I think theres almost 30 now. But Im willing to do that. Assuming, maybe Im assuming too much. Please contact Susan Rushkowski at publicfiledc@hubbardradio.com or (202) 895-5027. 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. Under the law, theres no requirement that you adhere to a major or even recognized faith tradition, he said. But nevertheless, how many, I fly almost on a weekly basis for my job. 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. "I am proud of the efforts the Department of the Army has taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Wormuth said. The government responded to the lawsuit by pointing out that immunization requirements are common in the military beginning with the Continental Army under George Washington and that vaccines and are essential to preventing the transmission of diseases in close quarters. And that is textbook discrimination, right? That leaves around 14,400 airmen and guardians less protected in the COVID-19 pandemics third year. Just because the plaintiffs identify as a member of one religion or another doesnt mean they need to follow every tradition, according to Griffin, the former Coast Guard lawyer, nor would they need to justify why they are religiously opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine in particular. Feb. 23, 2023. Hes one of the attorneys representing the airmen challenging the mandate, and he spoke more to Jared Serbu on theFederal Drive with Tom Temin. Those records are supposed to be cleared by March 31, according to the guidance. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.). This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,OConnor said: As a brief preview, the vaccine mandate fails strict scrutiny. The Florida case also expands the arguments past the religious exemption process, citing a handful of other arguments made by COVID-19 vaccine detractors. 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. In fact, as of Dec. 17, the religious accommodation requests of at least 29 of the 35 naval plaintiffs had been flatly denied. The judge agreed, issuing an injunction against discipline for the sailors on Jan. 3. Otherwise, the courts are going to be flooded with thousands of lawsuits, he said. 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. 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. Starbucks, for example, doesnt have a vaccine requirement. The three coronavirus vaccines currently available in the United Statesthe Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and, as of Saturday, the Johnson & Johnson versionsare approved on "emergency use. The primary protest centers around fetal stem cells, which may or may not have originated with an aborted pregnancy. I know, off the top of my head, the number in the Navy is somewhere near 4,100. The service members who filed the lawsuit represent more than 350 collective years of military service, and more than 100 combat deployments. Here, Plaintiffs must decide whether to lose their livelihoods or violate sincerely held religious beliefs. Editors note: This story has been updated with information from the hearing. Of course, that came because of a federal judges ruling. Because they will not compromise these religious beliefs, Plaintiffs have been threatened with separation from the military and other disciplinary action. Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. Members of the U.S. military who haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19 are starting to face the consequences. Theres yet another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,OConnor wrote, adding: The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. 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VICP provides compensation for injuries and deaths caused by This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. All rights reserved. Its just under 4,100. 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. All rights reserved. The lawsuit also fails to mention an established precedent regarding vaccines in religious traditions. Still, the organization said Covaxin is still a safe and effective product. The U.S . Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith means exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk, according to the filing. Well, what if somebodys not really sincere? Commercial airlines has said, you know what, were gonna lift the mask mandate. The Navy comes in second with a total of 469 separations, which includes 50 this past week. The Army reported about 1,300 religious requests, none of which have been approved, as well as six medical exemptions. 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? Other federal court challenges to various COVID-19 vaccine mandates are ongoing. In late August, Pfizers vaccine received full approval under the brand name Comirnaty. 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. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. If the court certifies the class does the class become all unvaccinated airmen or everyone whos been denied a religious exemption? 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? Right? Everyone who joins the military must receive a slate of several vaccines to enter, including chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A. 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. The group includes 14 men and two women. 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? Ho and Judge Kyle Duncan noted that the administration had only reluctantly ended the military mandate after December congressional action, but Ross assured the panel that there are no plans to bring back the requirement. So that, right now that number is several thousand. 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 service branches must notify the Pentagon that they've made the changes no later than March 17. 2:14:14 Pentagon exploring back pay for troops kicked out of military over vaccine mandate. The Coast Guard issued guidance Monday announcing it was "taking action to remove" all administrative remark entries related to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate from reserve and active-duty records. 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. In the Navy, none of more than 4,000 religious exemptions had been approved, but there were about 252 temporary and 11 permanent medical exemptions. How large is the class? At 1,038, the Marine Corps leads the military branches for the most separations. 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. The Florida case, in a 187-page complaint, takes measures much further. 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. But the DoD is just saying Nope, we wont even recognize that we wont even consider it, even though they consider natural immunity for other communicable diseases and infections and things like that. 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. 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 policy does allow commanders to "implement Health Protection Measures at any time or manner deemed necessary in support of operational safety and effectiveness." And they have different ranks, different different job responsibilities in the Air Force, a number of them are actually pilots in the Air Force. 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. 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 . Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine was developed and cleared for emergency use in eight months a fact . In December, the Air Force announced it had discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID . The military's COVID-19 vaccine was repealed after the National Defense Authorization Act passed and was signed into law this month. The government has recently ordered imminent punitive action against those men and women of faith who cannot in good conscience take these experimental vaccines, and this order stops the government in its tracks, Adam Hochschild, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society and lead counsel in Air Force Officer v. Austin, said in a release. 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. And yet were short, were saying that were having a hard time recruiting people. What the government will have to prove, in both cases, is that while its granted thousands of medical and administrative exemptions though many of those are temporary that the high bar for approval of religious exemptions is necessary for keeping the force healthy and deployable.