This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal district court has rejected an attempt by the federal government to get rid of one of the still-remaining lawsuits over its incredible rights abuses imposed by the COVID-19 shot mandates it adopted during the pandemic.
Officials at First Liberty Institute confirm that a district court decision went against the government and a team of U.S. Navy SEALs, who charged that the military violated their rights in imposing its mandates.
The government had argued since the mandates had since been dropped, the case no longer was valid.
The Texas court ruling disagreed because it found that the Navy's "religious accommodation process" has not been altered since it was used to punish sailors who refused the COVID-19 shots.
The court's order said the case, a class action claim initially brought by several Navy SEALs and other Naval Special Warfare personnel against the Navy, could continue.
It charged that the Navy punished service members who had religious objections to the COVID shots, and the court said while the mandate has been dropped, "the Navy’s 'sham' religious accommodation process that it used to punish thousands of sailors is still in place."
First Liberty Institute noted, "In other words, the Navy has done nothing to address the source of the problem."
Danielle Runyan, senior counsel with the legal team, said, "This has been a long and difficult journey, but our Navy SEALs don’t quit.
"While some may believe the case ended after Congress forced the Navy to repeal the mandate, nothing could be further from the truth. Rescinding the mandate was just the first step, but the real harm to these brave warriors continues because there is still no valid process for religious accommodation. First Liberty has stood arm-in-arm with our nation’s sailors, and we will continue to do so for as long as it takes to win."
The government previously lost big in the same case. Two years ago, the court ruled against the military's mandate for those experimental, and now proven injurious, shots.
The injunction later was affirmed by appeals courts all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the fight over the actual mandate apparently is "moot," the case is continuing because of questions over the Navy's broader religious discrimination that erupted during the pandemic.
The court's latest decision said the SEALs "argue that the persistence of this broader illegal [religious accommodation] process has injured, and will prospectively injure, the Class Members because they have sincere religious beliefs that impact issues related to their service. The record bears this out."
