On The Front Lines
Federal Court Agrees Air Force Sgt. Should Have Day in Court, TRI Attorneys Defend Christian Officer Punished for Speaking Out About Tainted Vaccine
WILMINGTON, Del. -- Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have successfully defended the First Amendment right of Air Force Sergeant Jason Adkins to have his day in court. The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware comes in response to a request by the Department of Defense to dismiss the case of an Air Force officer who was sanctioned after voicing concerns that he could be suffering the ill effects of a tainted anthrax vaccine. In allowing the case to move forward, the district court rejected the Defense Department's argument that the government has a countervailing need to discipline its own personnel. Recognizing that military members have First Amendment rights, District Court Judge Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. noted that "public employees have the right to speak on matters of public concern without fear of retaliation." Judge Farnan also acknowledged the importance of allowing military members access to the courts even when military procedures have not been exhausted. The free speech retaliation suit, which named Adkins' supervisors in the Air Force, as well as James Roche, the Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others, was filed in federal district court in Wilmington, Del., by Institute affiliate attorneys Thomas S. Neuberger and Stephen J. Neuberger of the Neuberger Firm."The military is not above the law in our system of government," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Furthermore, as the court recognizes, military personnel do have basic constitutional rights."
All U.S. troops deployed overseas are required by the military to take a series of six or more anthrax vaccinations. Dover Air Force Base Sgt. Jason Adkins, a C-5 aircraft flight engineer and a decorated airman who served on the first C-5 aircraft flown into Baghdad in the recent Iraq War and other numerous classified special operations missions, received eight inoculations. However, testing by the Food and Drug Administration discovered squalene in numerous batches of the inoculations administered to Dover Air Force Base personnel. Research indicates that even trace amounts of squalene can stimulate the immune system, causing arthritis, neurological problems, memory loss and incapacitating migraine headaches. In keeping with flight safety protocol, on Oct. 21, 2004, Sgt. Adkins reported to the Dover Air Force Base flight surgeon with a "crippling" headache and was subsequently grounded from a scheduled flight mission. Since his first day in the Air Force, Sgt. Adkins has been trained in one basic sacred safety principle--that flight officers with unsafe medical conditions are not to fly. Even during a flight, if crew members become ill or overly tired, they are encouraged to declare 'safety of flight,' at which point they are relieved of their duties, no questions asked, and always without any fear of discipline or repercussions. However, shortly after reporting to the flight surgeon, Sgt. Adkins was given a career-ending written reprimand and accused of dereliction of duty and faking his medical condition, allegedly in retaliation for having voiced his concerns that he might be suffering effects of the experimental anthrax vaccine. Other military personnel have since echoed Sgt. Adkins' concerns about the effects of the tainted vaccine. Institute attorneys filed suit in federal district court in 2004 in defense of the First Amendment rights of Sgt. Adkins. The case will now move toward trial.
Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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