Filed in November by First Liberty Institute on behalf of 35 Navy SEALs and three reservists, the lawsuit sought a religious exemption from the Biden administration’s Department of Defense vaccine mandate as thousands of U.S. military members face possible discharge for not complying. In the decision, Judge Reed O’Connor, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, ruled that the coronavirus pandemic “provides the government no license to abrogate” the First Amendment rights of America’s servicemen and women.
“Our nation asks the men and women in our military to serve, suffer, and sacrifice. But we do not ask them to lay aside their citizenry and give up the very rights they have sworn to protect,” the judge wrote.
Members of the U.S. military are expressing their grave concerns as the Pentagon issues a coronavirus vaccine mandate. https://t.co/Vvc3xQV3j8
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 29, 2021
