Lawyers for a SEAL task force group and other US Army employees who opposed the COVID-19 vaccination requirement on religious grounds want a federal appeals court to keep their legal fight against the Joe government alive Biden, even though the requirement was removed.
Congress voted to remove the requirement in December. Opponents of the vaccine, however, say commanders can still make decisions about how and whether to deploy unvaccinated soldiers, according to a memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month.
In a case due to be heard Monday afternoon in the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, government lawyers say the issue is moot. They want the appeals court to lift the injunctions blocking vaccination requirements as they intend to have the entire case thrown out in a lower court.
Lawyers for unvaccinated Navy employees argue in briefs filed with the 5th Circuit that the Austin memo and other Defense Department actions show the Navy still intends to treat unvaccinated personnel “as second-class citizens because of their religious beliefs.” ”.
Government lawyers argue in their reports that the policy is in line with “well-established principles of judicial non-interference with critical military decision-making.”
Task Force Marine SEALs filed the lawsuit in November 2021, describing what they considered a cumbersome 50-step process for applying religious exemptions to the COVID vaccine. His lawyers have called it a “sham” and the requests “categorically denied.”
The Defense Department denied that the process was cumbersome, saying the Navy has a compelling interest in requiring vaccinations for personnel who frequently operate for long periods in “confined spaces that are a perfect hotbed for respiratory illnesses.”
Source: El Nuevo Herald
