The Supreme Court ruled today that the Navy is allowed to consider vaccination status when planning deployments or assignments for SEALS and other special operations personnel.
35 unvaccinated Navy SEALs in January, and said they had a right to refuse the vaccine because of their religious beliefs."In this case, the district court, while no doubt well-intentioned, in effect inserted itself into the Navy’s chain of command, overriding military commanders’ professional military judgments," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which the service members had argued gave them the right to a religious exemption, "does not justify judicial intrusion into military affairs in this case," Kavanaugh said. "That is because the Navy has an extraordinarily compelling interest in maintaining strategic and operational control over the assignment and deployment of all Special Warfare personnel — including control over decisions about military readiness. And no less restrictive means would satisfy that interest in this context.
"These individuals appear to have been treated shabbily by the Navy, and the Court brushes all that aside."The Biden administration did not seek to block the second part of the federal judge's ruling, which said service members cannot be disciplined or discharged as a result of refusing the vaccine.
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