U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor had issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 due to religious grounds last January.
The 35 Navy personnel were sued over the Navy's vaccine policy. This Monday, the federal judge regarded the case as a class-action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction backing the approximately 4,000 sailors who declined the jab due to religious grounds, ABC News reported.
Based on the report, among those who had sued, the larger group of sailors has common characteristics. O'Connor said they asked for and have been denied an exemption to the vaccine requirement on religious grounds. As a result, these sailors could be discharged from the Navy.
"Even though their personal circumstances may factually differ in small ways, the threat is the same - get the jab or lose your job," said O'Connor.
Last August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination among its service members. According to the U.S. Navy, there have been 689 Active Component Sailors, 21 Reserve Component Sailors, and 22 Entry Level Separations who've been separated from the service for refusing the mandated vaccine.
Lawyers of the group argued that the Navy had allowed hundreds of exemptions for medical and administrative reasons yet no religious exemptions were granted for active duty and reserve service members. Only nine members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) have been conditionally approved for a religious accommodation request. Based on the guidelines, these members should be fully vaccinated before returning to service.
Military Affairs for Liberty Institute Director Mike Berry, the representative of the sailors said "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."
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief order last Friday saying that the "Navy could still consider the vaccination status of the sailors sued in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions." The highest court said that the U.S. constitution regarded the President of the United States as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and not any district judge.
The district court relied on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act for the injunction yet "The RFRA does not justify judicial intrusion into military affairs in this case," the Supreme Court stated.
"Sending ships into combat without maximizing the crew's odds of success, such as would be the case with ship deficiencies in ordnance, radar, working weapons, or the means to reliably accomplish the mission, is a dereliction of duty. The same applies to ordering unvaccinated personnel into an environment in which they endanger their lives, the lives of others, and compromise accomplishment of essential missions," they added.
U.S. News reported that Biden administration lawyers said, "Navy personnel routinely operate for extended periods in confined spaces that are ripe breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses, where mitigation measures such as distancing are impractical or impossible."
"A SEAL who falls ill not only cannot complete his or her mission, but risks infecting others as well, particularly in close quarters, including on submarines," they continued.
