On Sept. 1, the Department of Defense issued a revised version of DoD Instruction 1300.17, Religious Liberty in the Military Services. The revised Instruction begins by setting out the purpose of the document:
• Establishes DoD policy in furtherance of the Free Exercise Clause ... recognizing that Service members have the right to observe the tenets of their religion, or to observe no religion at all.
• Establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures for the accommodation of religious practices of Service members.
• Establishes DoD policy on the accommodation of individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs (conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs), which do not have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, or health and safety.
• Establishes DoD policy providing that an expression of sincerely held beliefs (conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs) may not, in so far as practicable, be used as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.
• Implements requirements in ... “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act” ... and other laws applicable to the accommodation of religious practices for DoD to provide, in accordance with the RFRA, that DoD Components will normally accommodate practices of a Service member based on a sincerely held religious belief.
• Requires DoD Components to oversee the development and provision of education and training on the policies and procedures pertaining to the accommodation of religious practices of Service members to commanders, judge advocates, chaplains, recruiters, and other personnel....
The new Instruction replaces a version adopted in 2014. (See prior posting.)
