A group of 40 military chaplains has petitioned the Supreme Court for a preliminary injunction to provide interim relief to those who suffered irreparable harm by not following the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for religious reasons.

The chaplains are appealing a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that the merits of their claims were moot. An amicus brief to the Supreme Court filed on the chaplains’ behalf by Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said the merits are not moot because mootness can only apply when a court cannot provide “any effectual relief whatever.”

“In this case, a court certainly could — and in our view must — instruct the DOD to provide restitution for the career damage and other harms suffered by the chaplain petitioners who, having been summarily denied a RAR were subsequently wrongfully punished,” the brief stated, referencing the religious accommodation request.

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