As a result of Liberty Counsel’s case, Navy SEAL 1 v. Biden, Florida federal judge Steven Merryday ordered each branch of the military to file a detailed report regarding religious exemptions from the COVID-19 shot every 14 days beginning Friday, January 7, 2022.
Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a group of Navy SEALs and Naval Special Warfare personnel a resounding victory Jan. 3 in U.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Biden.
In his order, O’Connor granted an injunction against the Biden administration and the Department of Defense, preventing them from enforcing the vaccine mandate against any of the named service members who had applied for a religious exemption.
O’Connor ruled that the blanket denial of their religious waiver requests amounted to a violation of the service members’ rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The filings received by the court last week show that out of 21,342 requests received, zero exemptions have been granted, and many have been denied at the final appeal stage. The reports confirm Liberty Counsel’s argument that the religious exemptions are a ruse with the inevitable result that everyone is being denied.
Liberty Counsel represents plaintiffs from five branches of the military, federal employees, and federal civilian contractors who have been unlawfully mandated to get the COVID shots or face punishment and discharge from the military or termination from employment.
The declarations by each military branch state that branch-level numbers are not precise until a certain point and there may be other numbers that have not been disclosed in this filing.
The statistics from the reports for each branch include:
Army:
Requests: 2,064
Exemptions: 0
Denied after Sincerity: 115
Appeals: none adjudicated
Medical Granted: 5 permanent, 4 temporary, numerous pending
Air Force:
Requests: 10,973
Exemptions: 0
Denied: 2,387
Appeals Denied: 235
Medical Granted: 1,723
Navy:
Requests: 3,711
Exemptions: 0
Denials (after presumed sincere): 3,484
Appeals Denied: none finally adjudicated
Medical Granted: 303 temporary, 8 permanent
Marines:
Requests: 3,192
Granted: 0
Denied after Sincerity: 3,080
Final Appeals Denied: 79
Medical Approved: 419 temporary, 17 permanent
Coast Guard:
Requests:1303
Exemptions: 0
Denied after Sincerity: 226
Appeals Denied: none finally adjudicated
Medical Exemptions: 6
TOTALS:
Requests: 21,342 requests received
Exemptions Granted: ZERO
Denied After Sincerity: 6,905 (with some branches not tracking)
Medical Granted: 2,485
