Judge Blasts Air Force Over Denying Vaccine Religious Exemption Requests, Grants Injunction

U.S. District Court Judge Tilman Self, III, is the first to stop the U.S. Air Force from enforcing its military COVID-19 vaccine mandate on a service member. Self granted a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Defense on behalf of an Air Force officer who’d been denied a religious exemption to the mandate. As a result, the DOD can’t enforce the mandate or take any adverse action against her, including forcing her to retire. At the beginning of his 32-page order, the judge describes how the plaintiff’s chain of command justified why she was denied a religious exemption: “Your religious beliefs are sincere, it’s just not compatible with military service.” “That’s about as blunt as it gets,” Self wrote in his ruling. “True, he undoubtedly spoke for himself, but when considering the Air Force’s abysmal record regarding religious accommodations requests, it turns out he was dead on target.” Although …  » Read full article