Topline
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a lower court ruling that prevented the Navy from limiting the assignments of SEALs who have refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on religious grounds, overturning the first major legal decision against the Defense Department’s mandatory vaccination policy.
U.S. Navy SEAL team members participate in a tactical warfare training.
Key Facts
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that granting Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s request for a partial stay of the lower court’s ruling was proper because courts usually do not intrude on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief of the military, and because technical decisions about running a military force are better suited to military professionals than to jurists.
Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito writing that the Supreme Court had done a “great injustice” to the 35 SEALs who had challenged the Department of Defense’s vaccination policy in court.
Alito claimed that the Navy’s procedure for applying for vaccination exemption on religious grounds was “theater” in which the service members who completed an elaborate and drawn-out application process were indiscriminately rejected via form letter, resulting in zero approvals among thousands of applications.
Key Background
In August, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced that Covid vaccination would be mandatory for all service members who hadn’t been granted an exemption, with potential penalties for refusal including dishonorable discharge. In December, the military began separating service members who refused vaccination. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled January 3 that the Navy could not disqualify a group of SEALs for deployment who refused vaccination on religious grounds, arguing that doing so would violate the First Amendment and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits the government from “substantially burdening” the exercise of religion under most circumstances. Austin labeled this judgment as an “extraordinary and unprecedented intrusion into core military affairs,” undermining the Navy’s ability to decide which servicemembers to send on critical missions, and asked the Supreme Court to stay it.
Tangent
As of Wednesday, nine religious exemptions for members of the Navy’s Individual Ready Reserve had been conditionally granted, meaning that those service members would not be required to be vaccinated until returning to active duty. There have been 3,320 active duty religious exemption requests filed and 864 Ready Reserve religious exemption requests filed, none of which have been granted.
Big Number
652. That’s how many Navy service members have been separated for refusing Covid vaccination, the Navy said Wednesday.
Further Reading
“Judge Rules In Favor Of Navy SEALs Seeking Religious Exemptions From Covid Vaccine” (Forbes)
“Military Starts Ejecting Unvaccinated Service Members” (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/03/25/supreme-court-rules-navy-can-sideline-unvaccinated-seals/