From Chief Judge Beryl Howell (D.D.C.) in Officer in the U.S. Space Force v. Austin, decided yesterday (contrary to decisions in M.D. Fla., N.D. Ill. and D. Colo., but consistently with Chief Judge Howell's decision in another case, and with this nonprecedential Seventh Circuit order):
Plaintiff is "an officer in the United States Space Force" who currently "leads a team consisting of over 200 members in 24/7 operations at a $250+ million satellite ground station." As "a devout Catholic," plaintiff alleges that she "cannot comply with Defendants' vaccine mandate without violating her sincerely held religious beliefs" ….
Plaintiff argues that pseudonymity is justified because her "request for a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate necessarily involves revealing her deeply held religious beliefs, un-vaccinated status and personal health, all matters of utmost intimacy." She further explains that her "request for a religious accommodation required her to make written revelations" regarding "her religious beliefs (a matter she would not normally publicly discuss)."
While plaintiff's claims necessitate that she explain the source of her opposition to defendants' vaccine mandate—thereby acknowledging publicly her Catholic faith—there is no reason to believe that the litigation would require her to elaborate on those "deeply held religious beliefs," and indeed, plaintiffs regularly brings suits in their own names to protect their religious beliefs under RFRA. See, e.g., Wilson v. James (D.D.C. 2015) (RFRA challenge by member of Utah Air National Guard to disciplinary action taken against him); Boardley v. U.S. Dep't of Interior (D.C. Cir. 2010) (RFRA challenge to constitutionality of National Park Service regulations as applied to plaintiff). Without more, what plaintiff deems "personal intimate information" about her religious beliefs is insufficient grounds "to grant the rare dispensation of anonymity." …
