In the case of John R. Van Drasek v. James H. Webb, Jr., Secretary of the Navy, et al., 1986, Van Drasek challenged his discharge from the United States Navy on grounds that it was unjust and violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under law. He claimed that he was discharged because he had contracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which led to a diagnosis of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The Supreme Court held that Van Drasek's discharge did not violate any constitutional rights as it was based on medical fitness standards applied uniformly across all service members irrespective of their disease or condition. Furthermore, they stated that military decisions related to personnel and readiness are generally outside judicial purview unless there is a clear violation of law or constitution.

In the dissenting opinion for the case of John R. Van Drasek v. James H. Webb, Jr., Secretary of the Navy, et al., Justice Brennan argued that it was inappropriate to dismiss a claim on jurisdictional grounds without first addressing whether or not there was an available remedy under federal law for alleged constitutional violations by military officials. He contended that this approach violated principles of judicial restraint and unnecessarily expanded the scope of immunity granted to military officers in their official capacities. Furthermore, he believed that such broad immunity could potentially undermine civilian control over the military and infringe upon individual rights protected by constitutionally mandated due process guarantees.