Court Grants Air Force Service Members Relief from COVID Shot Mandate
A federal district court in Ohio has granted a temporary restraining order for the entire class of the U.S. Air Force against the unlawful Department of Defense COVID shot mandate. Thousands of these service members who oppose receiving the shot due to their sincerely held religious beliefs have been denied their religious exemptions.
In his order for Hunter Doster, et al. v. Hon Frank Kendall, et al., Judge Matthew McFarland stated that active-duty and active reserve members are covered in the temporary restraining order.
Judge McFarland also wrote, “They face separation from the Air Force and other disciplinary measures … Because Defendants have uniformly maintained a policy of overriding Airmen’s religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine, they have acted ‘on grounds that apply generally to the class.’ Moreover, the class definition requires that a Chaplain certify that the airman’s religious beliefs are sincerely held. Finally, a single injunction would provide the proposed class with the relief they seek from the harm they stand to suffer,” the court wrote.
The Department of Defense has until July 21 to file a brief arguing why the temporary restraining order should not be extended into a preliminary injunction.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “This is a great decision that grants protection for the religious freedom for all Air Force personnel from Joe Biden’s unlawful COVID shot mandate. No service member should be required to choose between service to the country and service to God. Liberty Counsel will be pursuing class-wide protection for the remaining branches of the military.” {eoa}
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