Military Vaccine Mandates: Thirty-Five Navy SEALs Believe Fighting for Religious Exemptions is A Shot Worth Taking
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Madeleine Greene
Abstract
Americans take great pride in their constitutional freedoms, especially the renowned First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (U.S. Const. amend. I) The free exercise of religion is safeguarded by the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause; yet, in the face of a public health crisis – how far does this protection extend? Moreover, does the Free Exercise Clause cover all Americans equally? In 2020, the Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic began testing the limits of the First Amendment. President Joseph Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mandated that all active and reserve military members take the newly developed COVID-19 vaccinations. Failing to comply would leave service members with no other option than to be dishonorably discharged from military service. This paper seeks to analyze the current case of thirty-five Navy SEALs who were denied religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccines, and examines the implications this has on First Amendment protections for military servicemembers.
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction to Volume XIV
- Articles
- A Compounding Problem: Pharmaceutical Importation and Drug Production in the United States
- The Push for the Free Transfer of IP Rights in Medical Biotechnology
- Do Your Genes Fit: How Life Insurance Companies Discriminate Based on Genetic Test Results
- Military Vaccine Mandates: Thirty-Five Navy SEALs Believe Fighting for Religious Exemptions is A Shot Worth Taking
- International Humanitarian Law’s Impact on the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Guidance Systems
- A Knife in the Heart or a Sword in the Courtroom: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Empathy in the Legal Field
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction to Volume XIV
- Articles
- A Compounding Problem: Pharmaceutical Importation and Drug Production in the United States
- The Push for the Free Transfer of IP Rights in Medical Biotechnology
- Do Your Genes Fit: How Life Insurance Companies Discriminate Based on Genetic Test Results
- Military Vaccine Mandates: Thirty-Five Navy SEALs Believe Fighting for Religious Exemptions is A Shot Worth Taking
- International Humanitarian Law’s Impact on the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Guidance Systems
- A Knife in the Heart or a Sword in the Courtroom: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Empathy in the Legal Field
