Dear John,

First Liberty and America’s elite fighting force, the Navy SEALs, have won their fight against religious discrimination.

First Liberty represented 35 U.S. Navy SEALs, other members of the Navy Special Warfare community, and Navy Special Operators who were threatened with punishment, involuntary separation and even court-martial. We eventually expanded the case to include over 4,000 Navy personnel. Why? Because they sought a legal, religious accommodation to the military vaccine mandate.

In January of 2022, we won a huge victory for these brave Navy service members when a federal district court judge issued an injunction. This injunction prohibited the Navy from taking any adverse action against members of the Navy because of their sincere religious objections to the Department of Defense vaccine mandate.

Now after more than 2 years of additional litigation, we have officially reached a settlement that benefits all of the Navy personnel we represented.

The settlement ensures that Navy service members who refused the COVID vaccine for religious reasons will now have the opportunity to have their records corrected and their careers protected. Service members who elected to leave service after being mistreated by the Navy will also get their records corrected.

The Navy also agreed to:

• Post a statement affirming the Navy’s respect for religious service members
• Provide more training for commanders who review religious accommodation requests
• Revise its policy for accommodation requests that was changed during the mandate

When the Navy implemented the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate, everything changed for our Navy SEALs clients, their families and their careers.

They were denied assignments, prevented from receiving critical medical care and threatened with dismissal for staying true to their faith.

After more than two decades of military service, Gabe, one of our Navy SEALs, shares his story of the adversity he faced when he requested a religious accommodation to the vaccine mandate.

Thanks to your support, Gabe and the other Navy SEALs we represented were never alone in their fight for faith.

You and I have fought alongside them for the past three years. Through the victories and setbacks in their case, we’ve fought for the religious freedom they so richly deserve.

This win truly puts into perspective the sacrifices service members like these Navy SEALs make to secure our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.

And the reality is, if this can happen to some of our toughest military service members…it can happen to any American.

If we are not diligent in staying on the frontlines of this fight for religious liberty, all our freedoms could be lost.

Just as America’s Navy SEALs never give up on their country when serving, we at First Liberty will never give up on our service members.

We can never completely repay them for defending our nation. But we can defend them in court so that the freedoms they’ve fought for are safeguarded for generations to come.

I want to ask you, John, to stand with military members like Gabe as we continue to protect people of faith who are serving our country.

Because they fight for our right to live out our faith, it’s time for us to fight for theirs.

Will you join First Liberty in standing with our military service members as we keep fighting for faith and freedom?

Your support means so much to our military service members.

Let’s keep fighting for our God-given rights. Our children and grandchildren are depending on it.

Thankful for you, 

Kelly

Kelly Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute

P.S. If you are a Navy service member and want to learn more about this settlement, please visit https://navyvaxsettlement.com.