Supreme Court sides with Navy in SEALs vaccine mandate case

• What they're saying: "In this case, the district court, while no doubt well-intentioned, in effect inserted itself into the Navy’s chain of command, overriding military commanders’ professional military judgments," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion.
• The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which the service members had argued gave them the right to a religious exemption, "does not justify judicial intrusion into military affairs in this case," Kavanaugh said.
• "That is because the Navy has an extraordinarily compelling interest in maintaining strategic and operational control over the assignment and deployment of all Special Warfare personnel — including control over decisions about military readiness. And no less restrictive means would satisfy that interest in this context."
• Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The other side: By granting the Biden administration's request, "the Court does a great injustice to the 35 respondents — Navy SEALs and others in the Naval Special Warfare community — who have volunteered to undertake demanding and hazardous duties to defend our country," Alito wrote in a dissenting opinion.

• "These individuals appear to have been treated shabbily by the Navy, and the Court brushes all that aside."

Worth noting: The Biden administration did not seek to block the second part of the federal judge's ruling, which said service members cannot be disciplined or discharged as a result of refusing the vaccine.