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A federal judge in Texas has determined that the U.S. Navy cannot punish 35 sailors who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The decision was made on the grounds that the sailors defied the vaccination mandate on religious grounds. These sailors are part of the very few sailors that have not been vaccinated, as at least 98.5 percent of active and reserve Navy members have been vaccinated. The ruling is a blow to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's push to make vaccines mandatory for all branches of the military.
"The Navy servicemembers in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect," wrote U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in his decision. "The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution."
Austin has argued that the COVID-19 vaccine is a necessary medical requirement for all service members. Exemptions were allowed to be filed against the vaccine mandate, although none have allegedly been granted as of yet.
It is unknown at this time if or how this ruling will affect other sailors who have sued Austin and the Navy. The Pentagon has not commented on the ruling as of this writing.
O'Connor wrote that the Navy's process for considering a sailor's request for a religious exemption is flawed and amounts to "theater."
O'Connor, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, wrote that the group of 35 sailors who sued the government in November and sought a preliminary injunction against the Navy have a right on religious and First Amendment grounds to refuse the vaccination order.
The O'Connor injunction was first reported by The Washington Post.
Without commenting on the case in Texas, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby last month defended the validity of the military service's processes for considering religious exemptions.
"Each exemption asked for on religious grounds is evaluated by a chaplain, by a chain of command, by medical experts and is given quite a lot of thought, and they're all decided case by case individually," he said December 21.
In his decision in favor of the injunction sought by the 35 Navy sailors, O'Connor wrote that they objected to being vaccinated on four grounds: "opposition to abortion and the use of aborted fetal cell lines in development of the vaccine; belief that modifying one's body is an affront to the Creator; divine instruction not to receive the vaccine, and opposition to injecting trace amounts of animal cells into one's body."
"Plaintiffs' beliefs about the vaccine are undisputedly sincere, and it is not the role of this court to determine their truthfulness or accuracy," the judge wrote.
The sailors who sued are members of the Naval Special Warfare Command, including SEALs. The suit was filed by First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on defending religious liberty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
