PRESS RELEASE

LITTLE ROCK– Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joined 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of the religious liberty of Navy SEALs seeking exemptions from the Biden Administration’s pursuit of universal COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

“The men and women of our armed forces have sworn to fight for our constitutional freedoms, including our religious freedoms. Now it is time we fight for theirs,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “The Biden Administration’s attempts to discount the religious beliefs of our servicemen contradict everything we stand for as Americans.”

The Biden Administration is urging the courts to defer to the executive branch regarding the vaccine mandate, even if it overrides constitutional, fundamental religious freedoms. The coalition argues that states have successfully balanced freedoms and sensitive state interests during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Americans should be skeptical of the Biden Administration’s claims of broad legal authority.

The case has previously reached the Supreme Court of the United States. On an emergency motion, the Biden Administration asked the Court to partially stay an injunction against the vaccine mandate for the SEALs. The Supreme Court only allowed the requirements to remain if the mandates affected assignments, deployments or operational decisions. The case now continues in the Fifth Circuit.

The brief is led by Mississippi and signed on to by Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming in U.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Biden, which can be found here.