Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts

Thursday, February 01, 2024

National Guard General Seeks $1.6M Damages for Antisemitic Harassment and Termination

A suit charging antisemitic discrimination was filed last week in a California state trial court by a retired Brigadier General in the Air National Guard against his former supervisor as well as against the state of California, the California Military Department and California Governor Gavin Newsom seeking $1.6 million in damages and injunctive relief. The complaint (full text) in Magram v. Beevers, (CA Super. Ct., filed 1/24/2024), alleges in part:

This case is an action for Religious Discrimination, Harassment, and Wrongful Termination in violation of California Government Code § 12940, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) arising out of Magram’s 37-plus years of employment with the California Air Guard and United States Air Force, which includes 14-plus years as a full time officer on State Active Duty with the CMD. Beevers discriminated against Magram by harassing and wrongfully terminating Magram because of Magram’s Jewish faith, Jewish heritage, and Magram’s complaints about Beevers’ anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment. Beevers’ discrimination against Magram violated FEHA and California public policy. The State of California, CMD, and Governor Newsom were aware of Beevers’ anti-Semitism, Beevers’ anti-Semitic campaign, and Beevers’ retaliation against Magram. The State California, CMD and Governor Newsom facilitated and ratified Beevers’ anti-Semitism and Beevers’ anti-Semitic campaign against Magram.

Stars and Stripes reports on the lawsuit.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Army Appeals Court: Poisoning Through Vodou Not Protected by Free Exercise Clause or RFRA

In United States v. Lindor, (ACCA, June 14, 2023), the Army Court of Criminal Appeals rejected appellant's claim that his murder sentence violated his free exercise rights under the 1st Amendment and RFRA.  The case involves a Staff Sergeant who, after multiple attempts, succeeded in murdering his wife through the use of rituals and poisons recommended by a Vodou practitioner in Haiti. The court said in part:

[A]ppellant's actions to summon Vodou rituals ... were consistent with his First Amendment right to freely exercise his religious beliefs.... [T]he record contains no indication that they called for any illegal activity or result.... The stipulation's derogatory references to these Vodou rituals—after all, they were categorized as "aggravation" evidence—violated the First Amendment's free exercise clause. The government, consistent with the Constitution's guarantee of free exercise, "cannot act in a manner that passes judgment upon or presupposes the illegitimacy of religious beliefs and practices."...

However, our analysis does not end there,.... [Appellant] waived his objection to evidence of these particular spells in two ways.... First, the military judge directly advised appellant and his counsel that, if he admitted it, he would consider the stipulation of fact to decide whether appellant was guilty, and, if so, an appropriate sentence; appellant and his counsel agreed. Second, the military judge specifically asked appellant's counsel whether he had any objections to the stipulation; counsel responded, "No, Your Honor."...

Turning to appellant's violence toward RL, we view this as substantially different from the rituals about AD and government officials. We have searched for, but cannot find, any authority to support appellant's tacit argument that the First Amendment's "free exercise" clause can broadly shield one from government action to describe, prosecute, and punish conduct that unlawfully endangers another person's life...

Put plainly, we decline to characterize appellant's violent misconduct toward RL as the free exercise of religious belief.... [A]ctivities that harm others are not protected by the free exercise clause. To characterize appellant's chosen techniques to plan, express, and actuate his intent to murder RL as the free exercise of his religious beliefs would expropriate the free exercise clause of any principled, reasonable meaning. The United States Constitution's framers and the various ratifying conventions plainly and deliberately did not contemplate that one could seek protection in the clause for an act that violated another's right to be free from malicious violence.

Monday, May 29, 2023

Memorial Day Proclamation Issued by President Biden

Congress has designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day. President Biden last week issued A Proclamation on Prayer For Peace, Memorial Day, 2023 (full text). It reads in part:

On Memorial Day, we honor America’s beloved daughters and sons who gave their last full measure of devotion to this Nation....

In honor and recognition of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested that the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer and reflection. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 29, 2023, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time when people might unite in prayer and reflection.

Saturday, April 01, 2023

Maker of Religious-Themed Military Dog Tags Can Move Ahead with 1st Amendment Claims Against DoD

In Shields of Strength v. U.S. Department of Defense, (ED TX, March 31, 2023), a Texas federal district court allowed a company that manufactures military personnel "dog tags" to move ahead with certain of its 1st Amendment claims against the military that sought to prevent the company from producing dog tags with Biblical or other religious references near symbols or phrases that the military had registered for trademark protection. DoD regulations provide:

DoD marks may not be licensed for any purpose intended to promote ideological movements, sociopolitical change, religious beliefs (including non-belief), specific interpretations of morality, or legislative/statutory change.

 The court said in part:

If the military does not have meaningful conditions and controls on the licensing of its trademarks, the military may be deemed to have opened a limited public forum for private expression using those marks.... If a public forum were opened, disallowing views that promote religious beliefs would seem a prima facie case of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. So defendants’ motion to dismiss the viewpoint-discrimination claims ... is denied....

For purposes of the religious-exercise claims ... the court assumes that any marks not licensed for use on Shields’ dog tags are valid trademarks, used in a way likely to confuse consumers, without a defense to liability (other than religious-exercise rights). The question under Counts 2 and 8 is whether the military’s failure to license that usage violates the Free Exercise Clause or RFRA. 

The answer turns on the same categorization called for by the free-speech challenge.... If the military’s grants of trademark licenses are government speech, then any burden from the military’s licensing choice is justified by the compelling governmental interest that animates trademark law generally and, specifically, a trademark owner’s liberty to decide and control its own vision of a mark’s reputation....

On the other hand, if the military’s program here is so unrestrictive that the military has surrendered any licensing voice—making its licensing program a limited public forum for private speech using the marks—that deficiency also negates the compelling public interest for denying Shields’ ability to use the marks.... 

However, the court refused to issue a preliminary injunction because it found no substantial likelihood of success on the claims.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Military Will Provide Travel Allowances for Service Members Who Need to Travel to Obtain Abortions

In a press release issued on Feb. 16, the Department of Defense announced that it has issued policy memoranda (full texts1, 2, 3) that assure access to reproductive health care for service members.  Among other things, the policies will now allow service members to receive travel and transportation allowances if abortion or assisted reproduction services are not available in the local area. The health care services however are at the service member's own expense. Different policies apply to covered abortions, those where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.

Friday, December 23, 2022

Army Enjoined from Disciplining Plaintiffs Who Refuse COVID Vaccine on Religious Grounds

A Texas federal district court this week issued a preliminary injunction preventing the military from taking disciplinary action against ten members of the Army who object on religious grounds to complying with the Army's COVID vaccine mandate.  However, the injunction does not prevent the military from taking their vaccination status into account in making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions.  In the case, Schelske v. Austin, (ND TX, Dec. 21, 2022), the court said in part:

The Army has a valid interest in vaccinating its soldiers, and it has made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory. But its soldiers have a right to religious freedom, which in this case includes a sincere religious objection to the COVID-19 vaccine. Which side must yield? The answer lies in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which applies to the military: The Army must accommodate religious freedom unless it can prove that the vaccine mandate furthers a compelling interest in the least restrictive means. The Army attempts to meet that burden by pointing to the need for military readiness and the health of its force. But ... these generalized interests are insufficient. Rather, the Army must justify denying these particular plaintiffs’ religious exemptions under current conditions. Here, with 97% of active forces vaccinated and operating successfully in a post-pandemic world, the Army falls short of its burden....

The parties’ dispute centers on whether the Army can prove that application of the vaccine mandate to these plaintiffs furthers a compelling government interest through the least restrictive means possible. At every turn, however, the evidence before the Court weighs against the Army and in favor of the plaintiffs....

Finally, the Court recognizes that much of this litigation may soon be moot. Congress recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.... If signed by the President into law, the NDAA would require the Secretary of Defense to “rescind the mandate that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated against COVID-19” within 30 days of enactment.... Despite these developments, the Army has refused to commit to halting separation proceedings against the plaintiffs by way of any agreement that this Court can enforce.

Monday, May 30, 2022

President's Memorial Day Proclamation

Today is Memorial Day. Last week, President Biden issued a Proclamation titled Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day 2022 (full text) which reads in part:

In honor and recognition of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested that the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer and reflection.  The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Marine With Religious Objections To COVID Vaccine Is Denied Preliminary Injunction

In Short v. Berger, (D AZ, April 22, 2022), an Arizona federal district court refused to grant a preliminary injunction to a Marine Corps major who was denied a religious exemption from the military's COVID vaccine mandate.  Plaintiff is serving as a staff judge advocate.  According to the court:

To date, the USMC has received over 3,600 requests for a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement but has approved only seven of those requests. It appears that, in all seven cases, the applicant was already in the process of separating from the Marines at the time the request was granted. In contrast, the USMC has approved over 900 medical exemptions, including at least 20 permanent medical exemptions.

The court went on:

In his motion for preliminary injunction, Major Short conspicuously does not assert that separation, loss of training and promotion opportunities, loss of pay, and/or a less-than-honorable discharge constitute irreparable injuries.... Instead, the sole theory of irreparable harm articulated in Major Short’s motion is that “being forced to choose between receiving the injection contrary to his religious beliefs, or defying an order, is itself a denial of free exercise, and directly causes irreparable harm.” ... [T]he tangible employment-related harms that Major Short may suffer ... do not qualify as irreparable under Ninth Circuit law because they can be remedied through retrospective relief....  

As for Major Short’s coercion theory, the Court acknowledges that, in many of the recent military vaccine challenges arising outside the Ninth Circuit, courts have suggested that a service member suffers an irreparable injury the moment he is forced to choose between following his religious beliefs and following an order to be vaccinated.... But however persuasive those cases might otherwise be, this Court must follow Ninth Circuit law and the Ninth Circuit has not adopted—and, indeed, appears to have rejected—this theory of irreparable harm....

The court also concluded that beyond the irreparable injury issue, there was uncertainty as to whether Plaintiff would succeed on his RFRA claim.

Friday, March 04, 2022

Stay Of Injunction Denied In Suit Over Religious Exemptions From Military's Vaccine Mandate

In Navy Seal 1 v. Austin, (MD FL, March 2, 2022), a Florida federal district court refused to stay, pending appeal, an injunction that had been granted to two service members who refused to comply with the military's COVID vaccine mandate.(See prior posting.)  In refusing the stay, the court said in part:

Although certainly not “given the task of running the Army,” the courts in the narrow instance of RFRA are given the task of ensuring that those who are given the task of running the Army (and the armed forces in general and every other component of the federal government) conform their actions to the governing law, to RFRA, to which the admirals and the generals and commandants are unquestionably subordinate — just like the President, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, and every other person in the federal government.

Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the decision.

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Settlement Reached In Dispute Over VA Hospital's Display Of Bible

AP reports that the parties have reached an agreement leading to a New Hampshire federal district court's dismissal of a suit against the Manchester VA Medical Center.  The suit, filed in 2019, challenged a lobby "missing man" display that includes a Bible. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement agreement, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation will apply for permission to set up a second table that will feature an American flag and a published, generic Book of Faith, along with a granite stone engraved with "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Two Servicemembers Get Preliminary Injunction Preserving Their Religious Objections To COVID Vaccine

In Navy Seal 1 v. Austin, (MD FL, Feb. 18, 2022), a Florida federal district court granted a preliminary injunction to two service members who objected on religious grounds to complying with the military's COVID vaccine mandate.  The court said in part:

Under the command of RFRA, the military bears the burden of showing both the existence of a compelling governmental interest and the absence of a less restrictive means of reasonably protecting that interest. In the instance of Navy Commander and Lieutenant Colonel 2, the Navy and the Marine Corps have failed manifestly to offer the statutorily required demonstration that no less restrictive means is available, and each of the two service members is entitled to preliminary injunctive relief that (1) permits them, pending a final determination on a complete record, to continue to serve without the vaccination....

[T]he Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force submit ... the twenty-five most recent letters denying an appeal and submit every letter granting a religious exemption. The submission reveals a process of “rubber stamp” adjudication by form letter, a process incompatible with RFRA’s command to assess each request “to the person.”

On February 2, the same court had issued a temporary restraining order in the case. (See prior posting.) Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the most recent decision.

UPDATE: In an April 1, 2022, decision (full text), the district court modified the preliminary injunction to allow the Marine Corps to consider vaccination status in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions.

UPDATE: On April 21, the court issued an opinion (full text) supporting its April 1 Order.

Thursday, February 03, 2022

TRO Granted To 2 Military Members Denied Religious Exemptions From Vaccine Mandate

In Navy Seal I v. Biden, (MD FL, Feb. 2, 2022), a Florida federal district court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the military from enforcing its COVID vaccination mandate against two individual service members until Feb. 11 in order to maintain the status quo until a hearing on a preliminary injunction is held.  The service members faced imminent removal from command positions for refusing vaccination. The court said in part:

The record in this action establishes that the two service members are very likely to prevail on their claim that their respective branch of the military has wrongfully denied a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination. The record creates a strong inference that the services are discriminatorily and systematically denying religious exemptions without a meaningful and fair hearing and without the showing required under RFRA (while simultaneously granting medical exemptions and permitting unvaccinated persons to continue in service without adverse consequence).

Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Friday, December 17, 2021

Defense Authorization Act Requires Religious Exemptions From COVID Vaccine Mandate

On Wednesday, the Senate gave final approval to S.1605, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (full text) by a vote of 88-11. The bill, which was previously passed by the House, now goes to the President for his signature. The bill-- which is over 2000 pages in length-- includes the following provision:

Section 720: The Secretary of Defense shall establish uniform standards under which covered members may be exempted from receiving an otherwise mandated COVID-19 vaccine for administrative, medical, or religious reasons.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Military Sued After It Withdraws Permission For Selling Religious-Themed Replica Dog Tags

Suit was filed this week against the Department of Defense in a Texas federal district court by a company that creates military-themed replica "dog tags" featuring Army, Marine and Airforce emblems. The emblems are used under trademark licenses from the military services. The company's replica tags-- which are often worn by members of the military and their families-- also feature Biblical verses or religiously inspired phrases. After receiving a complaint from an advocacy organization, the trademark licensing offices of the military services informed the company that it may no longer produce or sell trademark-licensed products that feature religious content. The complaint (full text) in Shields of Strength v. U.S. Department of Defense, (ED TX, filed 12/14/2021) alleges that DoD's actions violate plaintiff's rights under RFRA, the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses as well as its free speech rights. First Liberty issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Court Defers Ruling On Military's Actions On Religious Exemption Requests From Vaccine Mandate

In Seal I v. Biden, (MD FL, Nov. 22, 2021), a Florida federal district court, after a lengthy discussion of free exercise protection under the 1st Amendment and RFRA, deferred until at least Jan. 7, 2022, ruling on a motion for a preliminary injunction sought by service members seeking religious exemptions from the federal government's COVID vaccine mandate for members of the military. According to the court:

[P]laintiffs claim the regulations — governing in each respective branch the availability of a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine and purporting to comply with the demands of RFRA — in reality disguise an unlawful and pervasive policy of the Secretary of Defense and each branch of the armed forces to deny individual consideration of each claim for a religious exemption, to instead “deny them all,” and to punish, possibly by discharge, without exemption and without accommodation, those who assert a sincere religious objection and accordingly refuse the vaccine....

[T]he data produced by the defendants show that more than 16,643 requests for a religious exemption pend. The military has granted no exemptions but has denied hundreds. This disparity, although susceptible to a benign explanation is, as well, susceptible to an explanation actionable and remediable under RFRA.

The court ordered each branch of the armed forces, beginning Jan. 7, 2022, to file bi-weekly reports on the number of exemption requests and the number granted, as well as on the number of service members court martialed after the denial of a religious exemption. Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the decision.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Biden Executive Order Permits Transgender Individuals To Serve In Military

Yesterday President Biden issued an Executive Order (full text) reversing the Trump Administration's 2018 transgender military service ban. In his remarks at the signing of the Executive Order, President Biden said in part:

this is reinstating a position that previous commanders and — as well as the Secretaries have supported.  And what I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform, and essentially restoring the situation as it existed before, with transgender personnel, if qualified in every other way, can serve their government in the United States military.

NPR reports on the Executive Order.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

DoD Issues Revised Policy On Religious Liberty In Military Services

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.)

Thursday, September 10, 2020

DoD Issues New Document On Transgender Military Service

Last week (Sept. 4), the Department of Defense issued DoD Instruction 1300.28 setting out its current policy on enlistment and service in the military by transgender individuals. The new document tracks a policy memo issue last March. (See prior posting.) The new Instruction provides in part:

Transgender Service members and applicants for Military Service [who enlisted on or after April 12, 2019 or who are newly diagnosed with gender disphoria] ... must adhere to the standards associated with their biological sex. Transgender Service members may consult with a military medical provider, receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and receive mental health counseling, but may not obtain a gender marker change or serve in their preferred gender. A Service member may be retained without a waiver provided that a military medical provider determined that gender transition is not medically necessary to protect the health of the individual. Continued service is contingent on the Service member not seeking gender transition, the Service member being willing and able to serve in his or her biological sex, and the Service member being able to meet applicable deployability requirements.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Space Force General Sworn In On Bible Blessed In Controversial Ceremony

As reported by NPR, yesterday, Air Force Gen. John "Jay" Raymond was sworn in as head of the recently created United States Space Force. The swearing-in was unusually controversial because Raymond was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence using a Bible that was blessed for that purpose at a ceremony last Sunday at the Washington National Cathedral. (Washington Post). Maj. Gen. Steven A. Schaick, chief of chaplains for the U.S. Air Force, held the Bible as it was being blessed.

Yesterday, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a strongly worded letter of complaint (full text) with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, calling the National Cathedral ceremony "a horrid example of DoD-endorsed, fundamentalist Christian supremacy, ...exclusivity ... and triumphalism...." God and Country blog also has coverage of the controversy.

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Controversy Over Army Licensed Items With Religious Theme

First Liberty Institute yesterday sent a letter (full text) to the U.S. Army complaining about the Army's order to a private faith-based company that is licensed to produce Army-themed products. (Press release). The Army instructed the company to remove Biblical verses from its popular Shields of Strength (SoS) dog tags. Since 9-11, SoS has produced over 4 million dog tags, the most popular carrying the words of Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

The Army's action follows a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation about the religious content of the Army-licensed products.  First Liberty argues, however:
once the Army creates a limited public forum via a trademark licensing regime and allows private entities such as SoS to obtain licenses, the Army cannot “discriminate against speech on the basis of its viewpoint” in the administration of the trademark licensing regime. The Army is therefore prohibited from discriminating against SoS because of its inclusion of biblical references on its products, in its advertisements, or on its website.....
More recently, in Iancu v. Brunetti the Supreme Court ...  invalidated the Lanham Act’s “immoral or scandalous” clause as viewpoint discrimination.....
Clearly, if a prohibition against trademarking offensive, immoral, or scandalous speech constitutes viewpoint discrimination, then certainly the Army’s prohibition against using religious speech in conjunction with its trademark does, too. This is especially true because the Army routinely grants licenses to similar, non-religious speech.