A federal judge in Kansas has dismissed a sweeping lawsuit aimed at the Defense Department over charges of pervasive religious freedom violations. Military Religious Freedom Foundation head Mikey Weinstein says the group will appeal the ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals after District Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled plaintiff Dustin Chalker failed to exhaust all administrative remedies before bringing the suit.
“It's a shame because Dustin did all that he could,” Weinstein said.
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Pedro Irigonegaray, a Topeka attorney, said the foundation was always concerned that the courts would agree with the Department of Justice about Chalker not going through his chain of command before seeking judicial relief.“But we also knew that efforts to comply with the process were met with dismissive and punitive reactions,” Irigonegaray said. “It was our hope because of the immensity of the issue involved that the court would … have intervened.”
