Oklahoma's Attorney General and its Governor, along with 16 Oklahoma Air National Guard members, have sued to invalidate President Biden's Executive Order requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all federal employees. The complaint (full text) in State of Oklahoma v. Biden, (WD OK, filed 12/2/2021), contends that the mandate violates various provisions of the Constitution and federal law, including the Free Exercise Clause:
The vaccine mandate is undermining the sincerely held religious beliefs of Oklahoma residents and at least some individual Plaintiffs. This mandate is not a law of general applicability because it contains exemptions that almost certainly will be unavailable to some individual Plaintiffs. Specifically, although EO 14043 does not even discuss religious exemptions, the SFWTF says only that a religious exemption might apply.... It adds: “Determining whether an exception is legally required will include consideration of factors such as the basis for the claim; the nature of the employee’s job responsibilities; and the reasonably foreseeable effects on the agency’s operations, including protecting other agency employees and the public from COVID-19.” Id. This non-committal and uncertain language gives Plaintiffs no assurance whatsoever.
The Oklahoma Attorney General issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
