A group of military clergy is asking the Supreme Court to uphold their First Amendment rights, which allow them to reject taking the COVID-19 vaccine despite orders from the Department of Defense.
They also say they have faced retaliation such as not being promoted for their religious exemption requests.
More than three dozen chaplains asked the high court in a filing this month to issue an injunction to force the Department of Justice to adhere to Congress’ move to do away with the vaccine mandate and thereby “restoring their careers.”
“The Chaplains’ argument is very simple: freedom of conscience is an essential element of the Constitution’s ‘no religious test’ clause, the common requirement for each First Amendment guarantee, and an absolute necessity to enjoy the ‘blessings of liberty’ purchased by the blood of our patriot forefathers,” they wrote in their filing.
“Nearly all Chaplains describe a pervasive DoD created hostile environment intended to isolate, ostracize, stigmatize, and humiliate Chaplains and others with religious objections to the Mandate.”
In the court papers, they claim the Defense Department wanted chaplains to counsel service members with pro-vaccine speech.
Many of the chaplains had objected to taking the COVID-19 vaccine due to its use of stem cells for the development and testing, as well as the use of “unnatural materials” that could contaminate the body, “God’s temple of the Holy Spirit.”
The government argues the group is trying to revive their failed lawsuit that was dismissed as being moot after Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, which required the mandate to be rescinded.
“The military had already taken steps to address concerns about future assignments and promotions by ensuring that any adverse actions in service members’ personnel records associated solely with a refusal to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement are removed,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote in their filing.
“Petitioners brought this case to seek prospective relief from the military’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement. Any live controversy about that requirement ceased to exist when the Secretary of Defense complied with the NDAA and rescinded the vaccination requirement, while also taking steps to ensure that service members’ personnel records are corrected to remove adverse actions associated solely with refusing to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination requirement after the denial of a request for a religious, medical, or administrative exemption.”
It would take four justices to vote in favor of hearing this dispute.