1:51:01 Awkward Andrea Mitchell lectures MSNBC reporter about using term "pro-life" 2:09:32 Baby "chop shop" FOIA lawsuit. I mean, all of it is just fraught with ideological purpose, and suspected purpose.. And yet they say, you know what, we now believe that its okay, for our employees to not be vaccinated, its okay for our customers to not be vaccinated. A federal court in Ohio on Thursday blocked the Air Force from enforcing the militarys coronavirus vaccine mandate for two weeks, a short-term win for airmen fighting multiple legal battles against inoculation. The Florida case, in a 187-page complaint, takes measures much further. A federal judge in Cincinnati has expanded a temporary exemption to a Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccine mandate to cover thousands of service members in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force,. The Texas lawsuit argues that the Navy Department is blanketly denying all religious requests, making the process a sham. Copyright 2023 Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. 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. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution. Were going from a 50-step process to a zero-step process? Duncan asked. That includes protection from an adverse action while their exemptions are in process, a key part of the complaint, according to one of the attorneys on the lawsuit, which alleges that the plaintiffs have been removed from their jobs, flagged for promotion or otherwise hampered during the exemption process. New data is out on COVID vaccine injury claims. What's to make of it? Another difference is that the VICP is a no-fault compensation program. 3 min read POINT PLEASANT, NJ A U.S. Marine from Point Pleasant who was discharged. Produced by Will Reid , Rob Szypko . "This guidance is a promise of what the Air Force is saying it will do," Bruns told Military.com. Trident Order #12 also implemented the COVID-19 vaccine mandate at the command level for Naval Special Warfare forces, setting a deadline of compliance for October 17, 2021," the SEALs' legal team . "We will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all personnel to ensure readiness, facilitate mission accomplishment, and protect the force.". And I have yet to hear of a single flight being canceled because there was a COVID outbreak at 30,000 feet. 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. I think one of the militarys concerns is whats the limiting principle here? Court Delivers Win to Military Members Denied Religious Exemptions From On Monday, Heather Hacker, an attorney for the Navy personnel, said the situation could be seen as worse now for them now that the older mandate policy has been rescinded, because current policy does not provide for a sailors religious objections to the vaccine to be considered when deployment or assignment decisions are made. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted an injunction against discipline of an Air Force officer whose religious exemption had been denied. 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. Several lawsuits have been filed by sailors opposing the mandate and challenging the Navy's approach to reviewing the religious exemption requests. "This vaccine mandate is unlawful and does not reflect the Land of the Free," said General O'Connor. 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 government has since filed a notice that it plans to appeal the decision. msn back to msn home news Skip To Navigation So if you can find a way to accommodate somebodys religious beliefs, in a less burdensome way right, a way thats less obstructive or cumbersome on their religious exercise, then if the person is really sincere in their religious beliefs, theyll usually accept that. Mondays arguments were heard by Duncan and Ho, both nominated to the 5th Circuit by President Donald Trump, and James Graves, a nominee of President Barack Obama. Military Services Will Amend COVID Vaccine Refuser Records So They Aren't Passed Over for Promotions, UN Nuclear Head Meets With Iranians Amid Enrichment Concerns, Philippine Governor, 5 Others Killed in Brazen Attack, China: Defense Boost to Meet 'Complex Security Challenges', Biden and Scholz: US, Germany in 'Lockstep' on Ukraine War, Air Mobility Command Removes Tail Numbers and Unit Info from Planes, Alarming Watchdogs, All Combat-Injured Vets Would Keep Their Full Retirement, Disability Pay Under Proposal, Better Housing, Health Care, Pay and a Call for National Service Needed to Buoy Recruitment, Enlisted Chiefs Say, 2 Commanders Among 6 Fired from Jobs at Minot Air Force Base, Veterans' Emergency Room Bills Could Get Repaid by VA Thanks to Change, The Pentagon Is Behind on Issuing Policy to Allow Cadets Who Have Kids to Remain at Service Academies, The Navy's Top Enlisted Sailor Is Ready for You to Ask Him Anything, the service lifted its policy of banning unvaccinated sailors, Navy Lifts COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for Deployments, The Personally Procured Move (PPM): Steps to Take, Service Members Get Special Rental and Eviction Protection, The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act - SCRA, Paris Davis, Black Green Beret in Vietnam, Finally Awarded Medal of Honor at White House, Ex-Army Private Gets 45 Years for Plot Against His Unit, Ohio Guard Quietly Removed Guardsman Guilty of Making Ghost Guns Last Year, Some Neck and Hand Tattoos OK for Airmen and Guardians Under New Policy Aimed at Helping Recruiting, Nuclear Base Fired 6 Service Members Over Failed Safety Inspection, Defense Official Says, Hawaii Congressional Delegation Asks IRS to Exempt Red Hill Families, Navy Seabee Battalion Honored in Decommissioning Ceremony, Is Deactivated After 80 Years of Building and Fighting, Navy Investigating 3 Instances of 'Hate Symbols' Aboard Destroyer, Health Net Protests $65.1 Billion Tricare Contract Award, Tricare Dental Program to Expand Choice of Carriers Under New Law, Veterans Group Pushes Cap on Attorney Fees in Camp Lejeune Water Cases Despite Political Divide on Limits, Disabled Vets Post Stunning Job Gains as Economy Remains Hot Despite Inflation, Marine Corps Axes Elite Scout Sniper Platoons, Coast Guard Relieves Commander Following Deadly Collision, Coast Guard Swimmer Recounts Dramatic Rescue of Alleged Oregon Yacht Thief and Goonies Prankster, Coast Guard Gulf of Mexico Rescue to Be Chronicled in Survival Thriller Movie, Celebrated Pearl Harbor Survivor Jack Holder Lived Large for Those Who Didn't Make It, 'Dead Space' Remake Gets Everything Right, Army Veteran Wayne Shorter Was a Titan of Jazz. And then if you come back and you say, oh, no, but my exemption is a medical exemption [see Contraindications and Precautions]not a religious exemption, then the military says, Oh, well, in that case, we welcome you with open arms. Dr. Lee Merritt, a self-described Navy surgeon, stated during an . Soldier, Marine lawsuit challenges mandatory COVID - Army Times Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. About 97% of the Department of the Air Force is fully vaccinated, though a larger share of active duty airmen and guardians have gotten the jab compared to their Guard and Reserve counterparts. The prospect of dishonorable discharges has been a concern for some against vaccine mandates, but that type of discharge can only be handed down through a court-martial conviction. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. Are there major differences here? I mean, this is quickly becoming a national security issue for our nation. 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. Of course, that came because of a federal judges ruling. Similar to the Navy, the Marine Corps is no longer stopping unvaccinated Marines from deployments. More:Dark money group targets Oklahoma Gov. Im very confident that this case going to the Supreme Court, Mat Staver whose Liberty Counsel represents plaintiffs in the Florida case told Military Times on Tuesday. And at least in the Starbucks is that Ive been in recently where theyve been packed in like sardines. The Navy began issuing guidance to sailors earlier this month. Theyre burdensome, but the person says, But you know what, at the end of the day, Im not have to inject something in my body that violates my religious beliefs. Two staff sergeants, one Army, one Marine, have filed a lawsuit against three federal agencies, challenging plans to conduct mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations of military troops. Lawyers are waiting to see if a federal court in Georgia will stop the vaccine mandate nationwide through another class-action preliminary injunction as well. 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. On Jan. 7,the Supreme Court is set to hear oral argumentsin a set of high-profile, consolidated cases on the Biden administrations vaccine mandates for private-sector entities with 100 or more employees, and for health care facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding. In the Ohio case, 2nd Lt. Hunter Doster of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and more than a dozen other plaintiffs argue the Air Force is forcing them to lose their livelihoods or violate their religious beliefs by receiving vaccines they say are impure or have ties to abortion. Court Delivers Win to Military Members Denied Religious Exemptions From Pentagon Vaccine Mandate, SCOTUS 101: Student Loans and Major Questions, Unpacking the Oral Arguments Against Bidens Student Loan Cancellation, Appeals Court Steals Show on ERA Amid Senate Panels Bid to Resurrect Dead Amendment, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments. Troops who refused COVID vaccine still may face discipline It also allows them to restrict sailors' movement "in order to comply with host nation quarantine regulations.". Many religious exemption applications have explained that the service members werent aware of the use of fetal stem cells prior to all of the controversy over the COVID-19 vaccine, but for the purposes of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, they dont have to explain themselves. Because how do you avoid getting to the point where anyone can deny or refuse any lawful order by claiming that they have a sincerely held religious belief that would be encumbered by it? U.S. military is discharging service members who refuse to get National Vaccine Lawsuit Injury Attorney - Carlson Law Firm Each of those shots also involves cell tissue derived from fetuses, as does one version of the rabies vaccine. The "rule" and the ways it will be fought 1:43:40 How to fight the NFA and its unconstitutional rule about barrel lengths. Just because of the just incredibly political nature of, of all of it, from the virus to the vaccine to the mandates, Marshall Griffin, a retired Coast Guard judge advocate who now practices privately, told Military Times on Monday. But although the Air Force has approved hundreds of medical and administrative exemptions, they have only approved a very small handful of religious exemptions and even the ones that theyve approved by their own admission, they are only for Air Force members who are basically already separating or are already on their way out. 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. US Military To Face COVID-19 Vaccine Lawsuit February 18, 2023 Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. US troops refusing the COVID-19 vaccine: What happens to them? The Biden Administration has previously admitted that it is not the federal government's role to enforce vaccine mandates. The military across the board is discriminating discriminating against people of faith. We are kicking out people by the thousands. The Justice Department intends to appeal the Texas ruling, while a temporary injunction in the Florida case expires Friday. 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. They had been told to get certain vaccines or other things without even be notified of a religious objection.. All of the military services have released vaccine refusal policies, none of them involving judicial or non-judicial charges for simply staying unvaccinated. 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.. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. 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. Army brigade surgeon claims in lawsuit vaccines are made with "Former Soldiers may petition the Army Discharge Review Board and the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to request corrections to their records," the service's press release said. Commercial airlines has said, you know what, were gonna lift the mask mandate. Based on his Roman Catholic Christian faith and absolute opposition to abortion, he cannot accept a vaccine that has been manufactured, or whose efficacy has been tested and proved, using aborted fetal cells, the Florida lawsuit alleges, on behalf of a Coast Guard pilot. 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? They become the exception and not the norm. They are, theyre ignoring the law, theyre ignoring the Constitution. Troops who refused COVID vaccine still may face discipline Brazil's Emerging Judicial Dictatorship Vaccine refusers often state that the use of fetal cell lines in the creation of the shots conflicts with their views on abortion. So everywhere else in society has been able to figure this out, but our military hasnt because they take such an iron fisted, draconian approach to everything.