ASHEVILLE, N.C. — In a decision likely to influence how the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) applies to military service members, the military’s highest court upheld the conviction of a U.S. Marine court-martialed for disobeying an order to remove three Bible passages she posted around her workplace.
In an opinion released Aug. 10 the five civilian judges on the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) decided 4 to 1 to uphold a lower court ruling against Lance Cpl. Monifa J. Sterling. The lower court found Sterling failed to inform her superiors that the posting of the signs was “religiously motivated” and failed “to establish that the orders to remove the signs constituted a substantial burden on her exercise of religion” under RFRA. The signs, a personalization of Isaiah 54:17, read, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Religious liberty law firm First Liberty plans to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court.
(BP)
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