From yesterday's decision by Judge Steven Merryday (M.D. Fla.) in Navy Seal 1 v. Biden, following up on an earlier decision:
Harboring a religious objection to the COVID-19 vaccine, service members of each branch of the military, federal employees, federal contractors, and employees of federal contractors, sued on behalf of a putative class and promptly moved to temporarily restrain and to preliminarily enjoin military directives and executive orders requiring COVID-19 vaccination but allowing requests for religious and other exemptions…. An October 18, 2021 scheduling order (Doc. 9) observes that a temporary restraining order directed to the putative class will likely not issue, but the October 18 order states that the plaintiffs may move on behalf of an individual service member subject to a circumstance markedly more acute than the other members of the putative class….
[My] November 22, 2021 order denies a preliminary injunction for the non-service members, defers resolving the motion on behalf of the service members, and requires the defendants to submit on January 7, 2022, a notice containing for each branch of the armed forces information about, among other things, the number of pending requests for religious and other exemptions and the number of requests denied after final appeal….
On January 20, 2022, the plaintiffs moved to amend the complaint. On January 21, 2022, the plaintiffs—in accord with the November 22 order—submit[ted] a supplemental memorandum in support of a preliminary injunction…. At 6:18 p.m. on February 1, 2022, the plaintiffs moved for a temporary restraining order on behalf of two service members allegedly confronting imminent removal from a position of command….
The service members moving for a temporary restraining order comprise a Commander Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines….
