In a recent win for two of our military clients, the judge had choice words for Joe Biden’s Department of Defense (DOD). I will share details with you below and outline our next steps to stop the shot mandates nationwide. — Mat

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On Wednesday, February 2, 2022, two of our plaintiffs in Navy SEAL 1 v. Biden were within hours of being removed from eligibility for command and beginning the discharge process from military service.

Lt. Col. Mary* is a highly decorated Marine and was selected for a command in the Middle East. But for the court order on February 2, Mary would have been placed on the Officer Disciplinary Notebook database, which would have ended her career.

Charles* is a U.S. Navy command surface warfare officer. As a captain of a Navy guided missile warship, Charles is the highest-ranking officer in the Navy seeking religious exemption from COVID shots. Yesterday, but for the court’s order, he would have been removed from command.

Both filed compelling religious exemptions from Biden’s illegal shot mandate. The DOD denied them. But the judge ordered the DOD to stand down!

Don’t let Joe Biden kick committed Christians out of the military. Help us DEFEND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!

The judge wrote that “The Secretary of Defense and anyone acting in concert with him ... is ENJOINED through February 11, 2022, from diminishing or altering in any manner and for any reason the current status of Navy Commander and Lieutenant Colonel 2, including their assignment, privileges, rank, or the like.”

Judge Steven Merryday made some extremely pointed comments about the DOD’s failure to lawfully justify their actions, saying “the two service members are very likely to prevail on their claim that their respective branch of the military has wrongfully denied a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination.”

The judge went on to note that the evidence in the record indicates the military branches are “discriminatorily and systematically denying religious exemptions without a meaningful and fair hearing and without the showing required under RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act].”

The decisive factor is found in the final paragraphs in which the judge wrote, “One struggles to imagine a wholesome and lawful explanation for the results evidenced in this record. The military is well aware of the frailty of their arguments in defense of their practices.”

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The judge notes that the plaintiffs face “most likely unlawful deprivation” of their jobs, as well as “deprivation of their constitutional and statutory rights to free exercise” of their religion and right to religious accommodation.

The judge goes on to state that Joe Biden’s DOD has so far failed to prove its case, writing:

The military faces a trivial, if any, prospect of material injury as a result of permitting the service members continued service under the same terms and conditions and with the same privileges and emoluments as currently prevail, especially because the military permits a large group of unvaccinated persons to serve without adverse consequence.

Finally, the military is most likely unable to establish, and certainly has not established, that permitting the relatively small number of RFRA objectors, even if every request for exemption (much less the two at issue in this motion) were sincere and successful, to serve without adverse consequences to their standing and the terms and conditions of their service will adversely affect the public’s interest in the maintenance and readiness of the nation’s military forces.

The judge also recognized the irreplaceable nature of our two plaintiffs’ nearly 40 years of combined and highly technical experience, writing:

In fact, the public undoubtedly has some considerable interest in maintaining the services of skilled, experienced, highly trained, patriotic, courageous, and esteemed service members, such as the two moving service members, in whom the public has an immense financial investment and who are not, to say the least, readily replaceable.

Don’t let Joe Biden kick committed Christians out of the military. Help us DEFEND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!

I believe our request to extend the emergency restraining order will be honored, and our clients as well as ALL military, federal employees and civilian contractors will soon be protected from Biden’s unlawful mandates.

We will return to court next week. Please be in prayer for a good and permanent outcome in this case.

In addition to our class action lawsuit against the Biden administration, we continue with our other shot mandate cases in multiple courts, and many other cases.

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Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

Sources:

“Court Grants Service Members Emergency Relief in Navy SEAL 1 v. Biden.” February 2, 2022. Liberty Counsel. Lc.org/newsroom/details/020222-court-grants-service-members-emergency-relief-in-navy-seal-1-v-biden.

“Court Orders DOD Response by Today in Navy SEAL 1 v. Biden.” February 2, 2022. Liberty Counsel. Lc.org/newsroom/details/020222-court-orders-dod-response-by-today-in-navy-seal-1-v-biden.

“Resources & Research: COVID Vaccine.” Liberty Counsel, 2021. lc.org/vaccine.