Clay v. United States
Per curiam.
Facts:
·
In
1962, Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) initially failed the US Armed Forces
qualifying test because of subpar writing and spelling skills. However, upon
the revision of the test in 1964, he was reclassified and deemed eligible for
the draft and induction for the US Army on the occasion of the Vietnam War. He filed for classification as a
conscientious objector.
A conscientious objector is an "individual [who has]
claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of
freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.
·
The
FBI then conducted an inquiry with the people who personally knew him, and the
DOJ conducted a hearing for the purpose, taking the testimonies of his parents,
his pastor, and the petitioner himself. The hearing officer gave a
recommendation that the conscientious objector claim be sustained.
Notwithstanding this, the DOJ wrote a letter to the State Appeal Board that his
application be denied, which the Board eventually did, without a statement of
the reasons for such denial.
·
The
petitioner was eventually required to report for induction to the army. However, upon having his name called, the
petitioner refused to take the traditional step forward. As a result of this
refusal, petitioner was charged and convicted of willful refusal to submit to
induction to the Armed Forces, which he is now appealing.
Issue:
WON
the induction notice
invalid because it was grounded upon an erroneous denial of his claim to be
classified as a conscientious objector and, as a result, WON his conviction
should be reversed.
Held/Ratio:
YES, the notice
was invalid; therefore, the conviction should be reversed.
·
Three basic tests to qualify for the
classification as a conscientious objector:
1.
He must show
that he is conscientiously opposed to war in any form.
2.
He must show
that this opposition is based upon religious training and belief.
3.
He must show
that this objection is sincere.
·
In applying
these tests, the Selective Service System must be concerned with the registrant
as an individual, not with its own interpretation of the dogma of the religious
sect, if any, to which he may belong.
·
The
alleged grounds for denial were sent through a recommendation by the DOJ to the
Selective Service officials, who were in charge of approving or denying his
application for conscientious-objector status.
The Government conceded that the two grounds the denial was based on
were invalid, but argues that there is factual support for the third ground.
1.
Initially claiming that the basis for Clay’s refusal to be
drafted rest on political and racial grounds, the Government eventually
admitted that the petitioner’s claim was within the ‘religious training and belief' clause of the exemption
provision, as his beliefs were founded on tenets of the Muslim religion as he
understood them.
2.
The
Government also previously stated that the registrant has not consistently
overtly manifested his conscientious–objector claim, which is a requisite to
establishing a subjective state of mind and belief; it claimed that the alleged
beliefs were only manifested when military service became imminent. However, the Government also eventually
admitted to the sincerity of his beliefs, as found by the hearing officer
assigned to his application.
3. However, the Government
maintains its position that there is a “basis in fact” for holding that
petitioner is “not opposed to war in any form”, but only selectively opposed to
certain wars.
·
The
question of whether or not the tests were complied with, however, becomes
irrelevant in light of the fact that no reasons were ever given to the petition
for the denial of his application, as a result of which, it could not be
determined which of the three grounds was relied on in order to deny his
application.
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