A law firm is calling on the U.S. Marine Corps to reverse a decision denying a trademark license to Shields of Strength, a private business that produces military-themed dog tag replicas with Scripture on them.
The company has had to deny thousands of requests for the dog tags after a group’s complaint last year. First Liberty Institute sent a letter to the Marine Corps Trademark Licensing Office Tuesday accusing it of discrimination for abruptly pulling the license.
That came days after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) complained about Shields’ partnership with the Department of Defense. The group said the federal agency “poisons the constitutionally mandated separation of Church and State” with the Shields of Strength.
Shields founder Kenny Vaughan has made more than 4 million of the faith-based dog tags to date, donating hundreds of thousands to the U.S. military, including Gold Star families. He was devastated when he found out about the military’s quick turnaround.
