When the pandemic hit, a myriad of questionable laws, guidelines, and rules were thrown down all across the country. Some of the strictest involved government officials.

This of course includes military members, and many were forced to leave their post for not getting vaccinated. Even if you held certain religious beliefs, this wasn’t a good enough excuse.

However, since then, multiple court rulings decided this was wrong — and punishment was not allowed on these grounds.

The legal battles still rage, which is why every new victory is important. The latest centered on the Air Force, and whether or not they could fire service members for not getting the vax.

There’s a continuing class action lawsuit involving several Air Force members, and they just got a major decision.

This translates to a significant win for freedom of religion, one of the most important freedoms American citizens currently enjoy. And no virus is going to alter those rights, according to the court.

Via The Daily Wire:

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a previous ruling and decided that the Air Force may not punish or fire service members for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 if they have a religious objection.

U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Murphy said that around 10,000 service members asked for a religious exemption from the Air Force’s mandatory vaccine requirement.

But evidently, only about 135 of those requests were granted, and even then “only to those already planning to leave the service.”

This resulted in the lawsuit where 18 plaintiffs sued Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, claiming the vaccine rule “substantially burdens their religious exercise in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA).”

The judge agreed with the plaintiffs and added that the Air Force has already managed to get 97% of its force vaccinated.

Therefore, there doesn’t appear to be any significant danger in allowing religious freedom for those few. This reinforces a lower court injunction that barred the Air Force from punishing these members.

Lawyer Chris Wiest who took the case for the service members said they were “extraordinarily pleased with this decision.“

We established, and the Court found, a substantial basis of systemic discrimination towards religious believers.

This decision will protect the liberty and livelihood of approximately 10,000 class members, all of whom have undertaken to protect our country.

The least we can do is extend to them the rights that they protect for all of us.

The question of our individual freedoms is more prominent now than ever, due largely to the COVID pandemic.

Religious freedom appeared to take a backseat to draconian rules and guidelines, but at least most courts are saying that this shouldn’t be allowed. Our rights are of the utmost importance.

Key Takeaways:

• A U.S. Circuit Judge upheld a lower court ruling, which stops the Air Force from punishing members who didn’t get vaccinated due to religious beliefs.
• The 18 plaintiffs are reportedly “extraordinarily pleased with this decision.”
• Lawyer Chris Wiest added that the ruling “will protect the liberty and livelihood of approximately 10,000 class members.”

Source: The Daily Wire

Ben Dutka

Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.

Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.