In this episode of the Napa Legal Podcast, Frank DeVito is joined by Nathan Loyd, staff counsel at the Thomas More Society and a former active-duty member of the Air Force, to discuss a recent settlement with the US Coast Guard that will protect the religious freedom of servicemembers across the country.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coast Guard refused to provide religious exemptions from vaccine mandates. Elite servicemembers were denied promotion and cut out of key responsibilities for their religious objections to the mandate. A Class of officers and enlisted coast guardsmen, with the help of attorneys from the Thomas More Society, recently settled a major lawsuit with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard agreed to follow federal regulations that protect religious liberty in the future.

Key Moments:

0:50 Introduction

1:43 Nathan's work at the Thomas More Society

4:07 The basics of the Covid-19 Vaccine mandates in the Coast Guard

5:20 This case - Jackson v. Mullin and the servicemembers who brought it.

10:39 Relevant research on the Covid-19 vaccines

12:07 The legal standard for religious exemptions, particularly in the military.

15:56 Other similar cases and applying the legal standards in other circumstances.

16:55 The outcome of this case - a favorable settlement for the servicemembers.

22:18 Voluntary cessation in civil litigation

28:13 Servicemembers' responses to this settlement

32:25 Why this case is being settled today rather than years ago

37:43 Other parts of Nathan's work - sidewalk counselling and free speech.

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The Napa Legal Podcast, May 14, 2026