Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/346/1/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 22:15:50+00:00

Document:
Under § 6(j) of the Selective Service Act of 1948, a person whose claim for exemption as a conscientious objector has been rejected by his local draft board may appeal to an appeal board, which is required to refer the claim to the Department of Justice for a recommendation, which the appeal board is required to consider but is not bound to follow. Before making its recommendation, the Department is required to make an "appropriate inquiry" and to hold a "hearing." After investigating the appellant's background and reputation for sincerity, the Department conducts a hearing at which the appellant is allowed to appear in person, accompanied by an advisor and witnesses to testify in his behalf. Upon request, he is entitled to be instructed "as to the general nature and character" of any "unfavorable" evidence developed by the investigation; but he is not permitted to see the investigator's report, nor is he informed of the names of persons interviewed by the investigator.
1. This procedure satisfies the requirements of the Act. Pp. 346 U. S. 2-9.
(a) The statutory scheme for review of exemptions claimed by conscientious objectors does not entitle them to have the investigators' reports produced for their inspection. Pp. 346 U. S. 5-6.
before an impartial hearing officer, permits him to produce all relevant evidence in his own behalf, and supplies him with a fair resume of any adverse evidence in the investigator's report. P. 346 U. S. 6.
(c) The requirement of § 6(j) that the Department afford the registrant a "hearing" does not require it to entertain an all-out collateral attack on the testimony obtained in the prehearing investigation. Pp. 346 U. S. 6-9.
2. As thus construed and applied, the Act does not violate the Fifth Amendment. Pp. 346 U. S. 9-10.
200 F.2d 46 and 200 F.2d 540 reversed.
Respondents were convicted of violating § 12 of the Selective Service Act of 1948, 50 U.S.C. App. (Supp. V) § 462, by willfully refusing to submit to induction into the armed forces of the United States. The Court of Appeals reversed. 200 F.2d 46, 540. This Court granted certiorari. 345 U.S. 915. Reversed, p. 346 U. S. 10.
reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form." If the conscientious objector's claim for relief under this section is denied by his local draft board, he is entitled to further review by an "appropriate appeal board." All such appeals are referred to the Department of Justice for an "appropriate inquiry" and a "hearing." The Department of Justice then makes a recommendation to the appeal board, which may or may not follow it in reviewing the local board's classification.
investigation. [Footnote 4] But he is not permitted to see the FBI report, nor is he informed of the names of persons interviewed by the investigators.
It is the Department's refusal to disclose the entire FBI reports which precipitates the issues now before us. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has held that this procedure violates a registrant's rights under the Selective Service Act. [Footnote 5] We granted certiorari, 345 U.S. 915, because that determination seemed in conflict with the decisions of other Courts of Appeals [Footnote 6] and because it dealt with an important problem in the administration of the Selective Service Act.
Each of the respondents claims to be a conscientious objector entitled to total exemption from military service. Each has been convicted of willfully refusing to submit to induction in the armed forces of the United States. [Footnote 7] At their trials, respondents challenged the validity of their selective service classifications, claiming that they were fixed without basis in fact [Footnote 8] and without adherence to the procedures prescribed by § 6(j) of the Act; [Footnote 9] each claimed that the Department of Justice's failure to show him the FBI reports rendered his classification illegal. The Court of Appeals, reversing each respondent's conviction, sustained the claims.
is suggested that the "hearing" prescribed by Congress was purposely designed to allow the registrant to refute -- item by item, if necessary -- the matters discussed in the investigator's report. [Footnote 11] In sum, respondents assimilate the "hearing" in § 6(j) to a trial, and insist that it imports a right to confront every informant who may have rendered adverse comment to the FBI.
judgments, Congress directed that the assistance of the Department be made available whenever a registrant insists that his conscientious objection claim has been misjudged by his local board. Observers sympathetic to the problems of the conscientious objector have recognized that this provision in the statute improves the system of review by helping the appeal boards to reach a more informed judgment on the appealing registrant's claims. [Footnote 15] But it has long been recognized that neither the Department's "appropriate investigation" nor its "hearing" is the determinative investigation and the determinative hearing in each case. It has regularly been assumed that it is not the function of this auxiliary procedure to provide a full-cale trial for each appealing registrant.
Accordingly, the standards of procedure to which the Department must adhere are simply standards which will enable it to discharge its duty to forward sound advice, as expeditiously as possible, to the appeal board. Certainly, this is an important and delicate responsibility, but we do not think the statute requires the Department to entertain an all-ut collateral attack at the hearing on the testimony obtained in its prehearing investigation.
Respondents urge that they have a right to such a procedure under the Fifth Amendment. We cannot agree.
reconcile participation in the defense effort with their religious beliefs -- if those beliefs were a matter of sincere conviction. Profiting from the experiences of the First World War, Congress adopted a new and special procedure to secure the rights of conscience, which had been given express statutory recognition.
* Together with No. 573, United States v. Packer, on certiorari to the same court.
Section 6(j) appeared in the 1940 Selective Service Act as § 5(g), 54 Stat. 885, 889. It was reenacted as § 6(j) of the Selective Service Act of 1948. 62 Stat. 604, 613, 50 U.S.C. § 456(j). The Act was amended in 1951, 65 Stat. 75, 86, 50 U.S.C.App. (Supp. V) § 456(j), and the present language of § 6(j) differs in immaterial respects from the language in the earlier statutes.
"Nothing contained in this title shall be construed to require any person to be subject to combatant training and service in the armed forces of the United States who, by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form. Religious training and belief in this connection means an individual's belief in a relation to a Supreme Being involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation, but does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views, or a merely personal moral code. Any person claiming exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections whose claim is sustained by the local board shall, if he is inducted into the armed forces under this title, be assigned to noncombatant service as defined by the President, or shall, if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service, be deferred. Any person claiming exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections shall, if such claim is not sustained by the local board, be entitled to an appeal to the appropriate appeal board. Upon the filing of such appeal, the appeal board shall refer any such claim to the Department of Justice for inquiry and hearing. The Department of Justice, after appropriate inquiry, shall hold a hearing with respect to the character and good faith of the objections of the person concerned, and such person shall be notified of the time and place of such hearing. The Department of Justice shall, after such hearing, if the objections are found to be sustained, recommend to the appeal board that (1) if the objector is inducted into the armed forces under this title, he shall be assigned to noncombatant service as defined by the President, or (2) if the objector is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service, he shall be deferred. If, after such hearing, the Department of Justice finds that his objections are not sustained, it shall recommend to the appeal board that such objections be not sustained. The appeal board shall, in making its decision, give consideration to, but shall not be bound to follow, the recommendation of the Department of Justice, together with the record on appeal from the local board. Each person whose claim for exemption from combatant training and service because of conscientious objections is sustained shall be listed by the local board on a register of conscientious objectors."
There is a dearth of legislative history reflecting much discussion in Congress about this phase of the Selective Service Act. The problem was discussed rather briefly during the Committee hearings on the 1940 Act. See Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs United States Senate on S. 4164, 76th Cong., 3d Sess., and Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs House of Representatives on H.R. 10132, 76th Cong., 3d Sess. Compare H.R.Rep.No. 2903, 76th Cong., 3d Sess., p. 5.
See 32 CFR Part 1626.25 (1949 ed.); see also 17 Fed.Reg. 5449, June 18, 1952.
See Instructions to Registrants Whose Claims for Exemption as Conscientious Objectors Have Been Appealed (a letter sent to the appealing registrant from the office of the Attorney General) reproduced in part in the record in the Nugent case, at 54.
United States v. Nugent, 200 F.2d 46, and United States v. Packer, 200 F.2d 540.
See e.g., Imboden v. United States, 194 F.2d 508 (1952); Elder v. United States, 202 F.2d 465 (1953).
50 U.S.C.App. (Supp. V) § 462.
Cox v. United States, 332 U. S. 442 (1947).
Estep v. United States, 327 U. S. 114 (1946).
As to what constitutes a "fair resume " see Imboden v. United States, supra. Compare United States v. Oller, 107 F.Supp. 54 ,(1952) and United States v. Bouziden, 108 F.Supp. 395 (1952).
We need not reach that question in these cases, because, in our view, respondents cannot complain of any failure on the part of the Department of Justice to supply them with a summary of the evidence.
Respondent Nugent first indicated to his local board that he would only serve as a noncombatant. Thereafter, when required to submit additional information, he stated that he was opposed to any military service whatsoever. The local board, after a hearing, classified him as 1-A-O which rendered him eligible only for noncombatant military service. He appealed, claiming total exemption. Pursuant to § 6(j) his case was referred to the Department of Justice.
Instructions mailed to respondent Nugent informed him of his right to "request" the Hearing Officer to "advise" him of the "general nature and character of any evidence" which was "unfavorable" to him claim. Respondent never requested the Hearing Officer for any summary of the FBI investigation. He claims he was misled by the Hearing Officer's secretary, who told him that the "files" were "favorable." But respondent made no effort to verify this statement; at no time did he say anything or make any request to the Hearing Officer concerning the FBI report.
Moreover, the Hearing Officer, in his own report on the case, said nothing which would indicate that the secretary's comment was erroneous. He did not purport to base his recommendation on material submitted by the FBI; rather, his recommendation seems based upon Nugent's own conduct and testimony at the hearing, coupled with the fact that respondent, in his original classification questionnaire, had indicated a willingness to serve as a noncombatant -- the classification to which he had been assigned.
An additional statement by a Special Assistant to the Attorney General, forwarding the Hearing Officer's report to the appeal board, also made no mention that there was adverse matter in the FBI report.
No part of the FBI report was transmitted to the appeal board. Thus, the record before the appeal board contained no evidence secured by the FBI. In view of this, and in view of his failure to make any request to the Hearing Officer, we think that Nugent was not denied any right.
Nor was respondent Packer denied his right to be advised of the general nature of any evidence in the FBI report which might defeat his claim. In response to his question, the Hearing Officer told him that there was nothing unfavorable in it. The Hearing officer's report, which was transmitted to the appeal board, corroborates this view. Nothing in the FBI report was transmitted to the appeal board, and thus it was given no indication that the FBI report was unfavorable.
See United States v. Geyer, 108 F.Supp. 70 (1952), an opinion heavily relied upon by the Court of Appeals in its opinion in the Nugent case.
Norwegian Nitrogen Products Co. v. United States, 288 U. S. 294 (1933).
The Selective Service System requires conscientious objectors to fill out a special form. This form supplies the registrant with the opportunity to demonstrate -- by pointing to past examples, referring to character witnesses, and recounting the background of his training and beliefs -- the sincerity of his claim.
32 CFR (1949 ed.) § 1624.
See Sibley and Jacob, Conscription of Conscience (1952), 71-76.
Cf. Norweigan Nitrogen Products Co. v. United States, supra; Williams v. New York, 337 U. S. 241 (1949).
MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, whom MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS join, dissenting.
objector invalidates, on any fair construction of the requirements of the Selective Service Act, his classification as 1-A.
"It is true that, on the precise point of law involved, the [Selective Service] Act is not explicit: when it directs the board to refer the registrant's claim of conscientious objection 'for inquiry and hearing' by the Department [of Justice], it does not specify that the product both of the inquiry and of the hearing shall be made available to the board. But neither does the Act suggest any reason why the product of the hearing should go forward to the board, as it did here as a matter of course, and the product of the inquiry should be withheld."
"There are, however, other provisions in the Act from which I think one must imply a Congressional intent that the board should have access to the investigative report. The same section of the Act proceeds to provide that, after inquiry, a hearing shall be had of which the registrant shall be notified. The natural import of this provision is, I think, that the investigative report resulting from the inquiry shall be made a part of the record for consideration by all directly concerned with the classification. Under the contemplated procedure, the registrant has already had an opportunity before the draft board to put everything desired into the record. That being so, there would be no point to notify him to appear in the departmental hearing just to put in more evidence. Thus, by elimination, the only useful purpose of notice at that stage was to give the registrant opportunity to meet the contents of the report. . . ."
"Congress was not using empty words when, in Sec. 451 of the Act, it solemnly declared"
free society, the obligations and privileges of serving in the armed forces and the reserve components thereof should be shared generally, in accordance with a system of selection which is fair and just and which is consistent with the maintenance of an effective national economy."
"A system in which selections might be made in uninformed reliance upon the recommendation of an executive officer bottomed, perhaps, on secret police reports would indeed make a mockery of that high declaration of policy. Only if the Act be construed to require that the investigative reports shall become a part of the record open to the appeal board and all concerned is the 'system of selection . . . fair and just' within our Anglo-axon concepts of justice and due process."
United States v. Geyer, 108 F.Supp. 70, 72-72.
may be the alternative to an abandonment of conscience. The enemy is not yet so near the gate that we should allow respect for traditions of fairness, which has heretofore prevailed in this country, to be overborne by military exigencies.
The suggestion that the registrants in these cases have waived their rights by not asking for "a fair resume " of any adverse evidence in the investigator's report seems to me an instance of keeping the word of promise to the ear and breaking it to the hope. The very purpose of a hearing is to give registrants an opportunity to meet adverse evidence. It makes a mockery of that purpose to suggest that such adverse evidence can be effectively met if its provenance is unknown. Nor is it possible to be confident that a "resume is fair" when one cannot know what it is a resume of. This does not suggest purposeful unfairness -- still less, want of zeal. Language is treacherous, and the meaning of what is written to no small degree derives from him who reads it. In a country with our moral and material strength, the maintenance of fair procedures cannot handicap our security. Every adherence to our moral professions reinforces our strength and therefore our security.
the life of a man is at stake, or his reputation, or any matter touching upon his status or his rights. If FBI reports are disclosed in administrative or judicial proceedings, it may be that valuable underground sources will dry up. But that is not the choice. If the aim is to protect the underground of informers, the FBI report need not be used. If it is used, then fairness requires that the names of the accusers be disclosed. Without the identity of the informer, the person investigated or accused stands helpless. The prejudices, the credibility, the passions, the perjury of the informer are never known. If they were exposed, the whole charge might wither under the cross-xamination.

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