Selective Draft Law Cases

Joseph Arver was one of the many Americans who did not register for the draft. After his arrest, Arver, along with a number of other draft resisters from his home state of Minnesota, brought suit against the federal government. The Supreme Court heard the cases of the draft resisters together. Arver and the others argued that Congress had no explicit constitutional right to impose a draft, and even if it did, the particulars of the 1917 act were unconstitutional, as they tried to give legislative powers to the president and state officials. Furthermore, forced military service was a form of involuntary servitude, which was forbidden by the Thirteenth Amendment. Lastly, the provisions for conscientious objector status violated the First Amendment's prohibition against the establishment of religion.

A unanimous Court rejected all of the appellants' arguments and upheld the Selective Service Act. Chief Justice White began his decision by examining Article l, Section 8 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to raise and support armies, using all laws "necessary and proper" to execute that power. To White, those words were clear: "As the mind cannot conceive an army without the men to compose it, on the face of the Constitution the objection that it does not give power to provide for such men would seem to be too frivolous for further notice."

White went on to say that just governments have a duty to their citizens, and the citizens have a "reciprocal obligation" to provide military service in times of need, when the state compels that service. On almost all the other points raised by Arver and the others, White quickly dismissed their merit, especially the argument referring to the Thirteenth Amendment. White saw no comparison between involuntary servitude and " . . . the exaction by government from the citizen of the performance of his supreme and noble duty of contributing to the defense of the rights and honor of the nation . . . "

After the Selective Draft Law Cases, the government had a clear right to conscript soldiers; however, arguments arose over specific provisions of subsequent draft laws. Most of the cases that reached the Court dealt with conscientious objector status. The Court has upheld the government's right to make an objector perform alternative service, rather than face combat. In Clay v. United States (1971), with former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali as the appellant, the Court cited a three-part test for determining if someone had legitimate claim to conscientious objector status: the claim is based on religious beliefs, the claimant opposes war in any form, and the belief is sincere.

America's last draft ended in 1973, as the Vietnam War was drawing to a close. Draft registration ended two years later, but President Jimmy Carter reintroduced it in 1980. The next year, in Rostker v. Goldberg, the Court denied a claim that the draft registration was unconstitutional because it did not include women. Another draft case, in 1984, gave Congress the power to withhold federal student aid to men who refused to register for the draft.