‘Hundreds of U.S. Marines who have had their requests for religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate denied by the military branch are safe from discharge for now, after a ruling on Aug. 18 by a federal judge.
The Marines have failed to adhere to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which requires the federal government to prove that a compelling governmental interest requires a certain action and that no less restrictive alternatives exist, U.S. District Judge Steve Merryday, a George. H.W. Bush appointee, ruled.
That includes rejecting the vast majority of religious exemptions using boilerplate language, despite many Marines being deemed by chaplains to hold sincere religious beliefs, and not offering compelling reasons to support vaccinating the minority of Marines who want exemptions.’