On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions forPoffenbarger v. MeinkandDoster v. Meink. These cases, in part, challenged the COVID-19 shot mandate imposed on U.S. service members by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Biden administration.
However, lower courts deemed the cases moot as a result of President Donald Trump’s enactment of anExecutive Orderissued on January 27, 2025, which aimed to “reinstate all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged for refusing the COVID vaccine and who request to be reinstated.”
The Gateway Pundit spoke toDavis Younts,a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer. “The Roberts Court [led by Chief Justice John Roberts since 2005] is fond of not taking on controversial issues,” according to him.
“Regardless of the legal wranglings and legal technicalities of all this, the unfortunate part is that, legally, the violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the harms that were done to so many military members won’t come out in the [Supreme] Court.”
Practically speaking, Younts said, “this would’ve been a great opportunity for the Supreme Court to hold the Biden Department of Defense (DOD) accountable for their intentional violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
While Joe Biden’s Pentagon offered only theblanket denialof religious accommodation requests, President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have taken measures to right the wrongs of the previous administration, labeling the shot mandate as “unlawful as implemented.”
Younts is thankful that the decision not to hear the cases “does not set any precedent” and are “not a sweeping, broad legal decision.” However, he remains disappointed that it is “a missed opportunity.
“If the Supreme Court had taken these cases, if they had looked at the clear violations of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” he stated. “It would’ve been a great opportunity to recognize what the Biden administration did, [particularly pointing to] how heinous it was, how intentional it was from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and how intentional the denials were.”
Against the intent of Trump and Hegseth, Younts argued that the Court failed to send a clear message to all the Pentagon lawyers and bureaucrats who have evaded accountability. In his opinion, they should not be allowed escape scrutiny.
As a result, he said, “There are many who were impacted by the illegal and unlawful mandate that will be deeply disappointed because of the administrative barriers, that, to be fair, typically come from lower-level bureaucrats, recruiters, and others who don’t want to carry out the President’s intent or the Department of War’s intent.”
Source: The Gateway Pundit
