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Timestamp: 2016-07-25 02:35:21
Document Index: 222001023

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 4', '§ 5', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 6', '§ 8']

U.S. Supreme CourtGillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437 (1971)Gillette v. United StatesNo. 85Argued December 9, 1970Decided March 8, 1971*401 U.S. 437CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
In No. 85, petitioner Gillette was convicted of willful failure to report for induction into the armed forces. Gillette defended on the ground that he should have been ruled exempt from induction as a conscientious objector to war. In support of his unsuccessful request for classification as a conscientious objector, this petitioner had stated his willingness to participate in a war of national defense or a war sponsored by the United Nations as a peace-keeping measure, but declared his opposition to American military operations in Vietnam, which he characterized as "unjust." Petitioner concluded that he could not, in conscience, enter and serve in the armed forces during the period of the Vietnam conflict. Gillette's view of his duty to abstain from any involvement in a war seen as unjust is, in his words, "based on a humanist approach to religion," and his personal decision concerning military service was guided by fundamental principles of conscience and deeply held views about the purpose and obligation of human existence. Page 401 U. S. 440
In No. 325, petitioner Negre, after induction into the Army, completion of basic training, and receipt of orders for Vietnam duty, commenced proceedings looking to his discharge as a conscientious objector to war. Application for discharge was denied, and Negre sought judicial relief by habeas corpus. The District Court found a basis in fact, for the Army's rejection of petitioner's application for discharge. Habeas relief was denied, and the denial was affirmed on appeal, because, in the language of the Court of Appeals, Negre "objects to the war in Vietnam, not to all wars," and therefore does "not qualify for separation [from the Army], as a conscientious objector." [Footnote 2] 418 F.2d 908, 909-910 (CA9 1969). Again, no question is raised as to the sincerity or the religious quality of this petitioner's views. In line with religious counseling and numerous religious texts, Negre, Page 401 U. S. 441 a devout Catholic, believes that it is his duty as a faithful Catholic to discriminate between "just" and "unjust" wars, and to forswear participation in the latter. His assessment of the Vietnam conflict as an unjust war became clear in his mind after completion of infantry training, and Negre is now firmly of the view that any personal involvement in that war would contravene his conscience and "all that I had been taught in my religious training."
"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. [Footnote 4] "Page 401 U. S. 442
This language controls Gillette's claim to exemption, which was asserted administratively prior to the point of induction. Department of Defense Directive No. 1300.6 (May 10, 1968), prescribes that post-induction claims to conscientious objector status shall be honored, if valid, by the various branches of the armed forces. [Footnote 5] Section 6(j) of the Act, as construed by the courts, is incorporated by the various service regulations issued pursuant to the Directive, [Footnote 6] and thus the standards for measuring claims of in service objectors, such as Negre, are the same as the statutory tests applicable in a preinduction situation. Page 401 U. S. 443
A different result cannot be supported by reliance on the materials of legislative history. [Footnote 8] Petitioners and Page 401 U. S. 444 amici point to no episode or pronouncement in the legislative history of § 6(j), or of predecessor provisions, that tends to overthrow the obvious interpretation of the words themselves. [Footnote 9] Page 401 U. S. 445
It is true that the legislative materials reveal a deep concern for the situation of conscientious objectors to war, who, absent special status, would be put to a hard choice between contravening imperatives of religion and conscience or suffering penalties. Moreover, there are clear indications that congressional reluctance to impose such a choice stems from a recognition of the value of conscientious action to the democratic community at large, and from respect for the general proposition that fundamental principles of conscience and religious duty may sometimes override the demands of the secular state. See United States v. Seeger, 380 U. S. 163, 380 U. S. 170-172 (1965); United States v. Macintosh, 283 U. S. 605, 283 U. S. 631-634 (1931) (dissenting opinion). See generally Selective Service System Monograph No. 11, Conscientious Objection (1950). But there are countervailing considerations, which are also the concern of Congress, [Footnote 10] and the legislative materials simply do not support the view that Congress intended to recognize any conscientious claim whatever as a basis for relieving the claimant from the general responsibility or the various incidents of military service. The claim that is recognized by § 6(j) is a Page 401 U. S. 446 claim of conscience running against war as such. This claim, not one involving opposition to a particular war only, was plainly the focus of congressional concern.
Sicurella v. United States, 348 U. S. 385 (1955), presented the only previous occasion for this Court to focus on the "participation in war in any form" language of § 6(j). In Sicurella, a Jehovah's Witness who opposed participation in secular wars was held to possess the requisite conscientious scruples concerning war, although he was not opposed to participation in a "theocratic war" commanded by Jehovah. The Court noted that the "theocratic war" reservation was highly abstract -- no such war had occurred since biblical times, and none was contemplated. Congress, on the other hand, had in mind "real shooting wars," id. at 348 U. S. 391, and Sicurella's abstract reservations did not undercut his conscientious opposition to participating in such wars. Plainly, Sicurella cannot be read to support the claims of those, like petitioners, Page 401 U. S. 447 who, for a variety of reasons, consider one particular "real shooting war" to be unjust, and therefore oppose participation in that war. [Footnote 12]
A further word may be said to clarify our statutory holding. Apart from abstract theological reservations, two other sorts of reservations concerning use of force have been thought by lower courts not to defeat a conscientious Page 401 U. S. 448 objector claim. Willingness to use force in self-defense, in defense of home and family, or in defense against immediate acts of aggressive violence toward other persons in the community, has not been regarded as inconsistent with a claim of conscientious objection to war as such. See, e.g., United States v. Haughton, 413 F.2d 736, 740-742 (CA9 1969); United States v. Carroll, 398 F.2d 651, 655 (CA3 1968). But surely willingness to use force defensively in the personal situations mentioned is quite different from willingness to fight in some wars, but not in others. Cf. Sicurella v. United States, 348 U.S. at 348 U. S. 389. Somewhat more apposite to the instant situation are cases dealing with persons who oppose participating in all wars, but cannot say with complete certainty that their present convictions and existing state of mind are unalterable. See, e.g., United States v. Owen, 415 F.2d 383, 390 (CA8 1969). Unwillingness to deny the possibility of a change of mind, in some hypothetical future circumstances, may be no more than humble good sense, casting no doubt on the claimant's present sincerity of belief. At any rate, there is an obvious difference between present sincere objection to all war and present opposition to participation in a particular conflict only.
Both petitioners argue that § 6(j), construed to cover only objectors to all war, violates the religious clauses of the First Amendment. The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . ." Petitioners contend that Congress interferes with free exercise of religion by failing to relieve objectors to a particular war from military service when the objection is religious or conscientious in nature. While the two religious clauses -- pertaining to "free exercise" and Page 401 U. S. 449 "establishment" of religion -- overlap and interact in many ways, see Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U. S. 203, 374 U. S. 222-223 (1963); Freund, Public Aid To Parochial Schools, 82 Harv.L.Rev. 1680, 1684 (1969), it is best to focus first on petitioners' other contention, that § 6(j) is a law respecting the establishment of religion. For, despite free exercise overtones, the gist of the constitutional complaint is that § 6(j) impermissibly discriminates among types of religious belief and affiliation. [Footnote 14]
An attack founded on disparate treatment of "religious" claims invokes what is perhaps the central purpose of the Establishment Clause -- the purpose of ensuring governmental neutrality in matters of religion. See Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U. S. 97, 393 U. S. 103-104 (1968); Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U. S. 1, 330 U. S. 116 (1947). Here Page 401 U. S. 450 there is no claim that exempting conscientious objectors to war amounts to an overreaching of secular purposes and an undue involvement of government in affairs of religion. Cf. Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U. S. 664, 397 U. S. 675 (1970); id. at 397 U. S. 695 (opinion of HARLAN, J.). To the contrary, petitioners ask for greater "entanglement" by judicial expansion of the exemption to cover objectors to particular wars. Necessarily, the constitutional value at issue is "neutrality." And, as a general matter, it is surely true that the Establishment Clause prohibits government from abandoning secular purposes in order to put an imprimatur on one religion, or on religion as such, or to favor the adherents of any sect or religious organization. See Engel v. Vitale, 370 U. S. 421, 370 U. S. 430-431 (1962); Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U. S. 488, 367 U. S. 495 (1961). The metaphor of a "wall" or impassable barrier between Church and State, taken too literally, may mislead constitutional analysis, see Walz v. Tax Commission, supra, at 397 U. S. 668-669; Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U. S. 306, 343 U. S. 312-313 (1952), but the Establishment Clause stands at least for the proposition that, when government activities touch on the religious sphere, they must be secular in purpose, evenhanded in operation, and neutral in primary impact. Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 222; id. at 374 U. S. 231 (BRENNAN, J., concurring); id. at 374 U. S. 305 (Goldberg, J., concurring).
The critical weakness of petitioners' establishment claim arises from the fact that § 6(j), on its face, simply does not discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation or religious belief, apart, of course, from beliefs concerning war. The section says that anyone who is conscientiously opposed to all war shall be relieved of military service. The specified objection must have a grounding in "religious training and belief," but no particular Page 401 U. S. 451 sectarian affiliation or theological position is required. The Draft Act of 1917, § 4, 40 Stat. 78, extended relief only to those conscientious objectors affiliated with some "well-recognized religious sect or organization" whose principles forbade members' participation in war, but the attempt to focus on particular sects apparently broke down in administrative practice, Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. at 398 U. S. 367 n.19 (concurring in result), and the 1940 Selective Training and Service Act, § 5(g), 54 Stat. 889, discarded all sectarian restriction. [Footnote 15] Thereafter, Congress has framed the conscientious objector exemption in broad terms compatible with "its long-established policy of not picking and choosing among religious beliefs." United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. at 380 U. S. 175.
Properly phrased, petitioners' contention is that the special statutory status accorded conscientious objection to all war, but not objection to a particular war, works Page 401 U. S. 452 a de facto discrimination among religions. This happens, say petitioners, because some religious faiths themselves distinguish between personal participation in "just" and in "unjust" wars, commending the former and forbidding the latter, and therefore adherents of some religious faiths -- and individuals whose personal beliefs of a religious nature include the distinction -- cannot object to all wars consistently with what is regarded as the true imperative of conscience. Of course, this contention of de facto religious discrimination, rendering § 6(j) fatally underinclusive, cannot simply be brushed aside. The question of governmental neutrality is not concluded by the observation that § 6(j), on its face, makes no discrimination between religions, for the Establishment Clause forbids subtle departures from neutrality, "religious gerrymanders," as well as obvious abuses. Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 696 (opinion of HARLAN, J.). See also Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U. S. 599, 366 U. S. 607 (1961) (opinion of Warren, C.J.); Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U. S. 203, 333 U. S. 213, 232 (1948) (opinion of Frankfurter, J.). Still a claimant alleging "gerrymander" must be able to show the absence of a neutral, secular basis for the lines government has drawn. See Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. at 393 U. S. 107-109; Board of Education v. Allen, 392 U. S. 236, 392 U. S. 248 (1968); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U. S. 420, 366 U. S. 442-444 (1961); id. at 366 U. S. 468 (separate opinion of Frankfurter, J.). For the reasons that follow, we believe that petitioners have failed to make the requisite showing with respect to § 6(j).
Section 6(j) serves a number of valid purposes having nothing to do with a design to foster or favor any sect, religion, or cluster of religions. [Footnote 17] There are considerations Page 401 U. S. 453 of a pragmatic nature, such as the hopelessness of converting a sincere conscientious objector into an effective fighting man, Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. at 398 U. S. 369 (WHITE, J., dissenting), but no doubt the section reflects as well the view that, "in the forum of conscience, duty to a moral power higher than the State has always been maintained." United States v. Macintosh, 283 U. S. 605, 283 U. S. 633 (1931) (Hughes, C.J., dissenting). See United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. at 380 U. S. 170-172. We have noted that the legislative materials show congressional concern for the hard choice that conscription would impose on conscientious objectors to war, as well as respect for the value of conscientious action and for the principle of supremacy of conscience. [Footnote 18]
Naturally the considerations just mentioned are affirmative in character, going to support the existence of an exemption, rather than its restriction specifically to persons who object to all war. The point is that these affirmative purposes are neutral in the sense of the Establishment Clause. Quite apart from the question whether the Free Exercise Clause might require some sort of exemption, [Footnote 19] it is hardly impermissible for Congress to attempt to accommodate free exercise values, in line with "our happy tradition" of "avoiding unnecessary clashes with the dictates of conscience." United States v. Macintosh, supra, at 283 U. S. 634 (Hughes, C.J., dissenting). See Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 294-299 (BRENNAN, J., concurring); id. at 374 U. S. 306 (Goldberg, J., concurring); id. at 374 U. S. 309 (STEWART, J., dissenting). Page 401 U. S. 454 See also Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. at 398 U. S. 370-373 (WHITE, J., dissenting). "Neutrality" in matters of religion is not inconsistent with "benevolence" by way of exemptions from onerous duties, Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 669, so long as an exemption is tailored broadly enough that it reflects valid secular purposes. In the draft area, for 30 years the exempting provision has focused on individual conscientious belief, not on sectarian affiliation. The relevant individual belief is simply objection to all war, not adherence to any extraneous theological viewpoint. And while the objection must have roots in conscience and personality that are "religious" in nature, this requirement has never been construed to elevate conventional piety or religiosity of any kind above the imperatives of a personal faith.
We conclude not only that the affirmative purposes underlying § 6(j) are neutral and secular, but also that valid neutral reasons exist for limiting the exemption to objectors to all war, and that the section therefore cannot be said to reflect a religious preference. Page 401 U. S. 455
A virtually limitless variety of beliefs are subsumable under the rubric, "objection to a particular war." [Footnote 21] All the factors that might go into nonconscientious dissent from policy also might appear as the concrete basis of an objection that has roots as well in conscience and religion. Indeed, over the realm of possible situations, opposition to a particular war may more likely be political and nonconscientious than otherwise. See United States v. Kauten, 133 F.2d at 708. The difficulties of sorting Page 401 U. S. 456 the two with a sure hand are considerable. Moreover, the belief that a particular war at a particular time is unjust is, by its nature, changeable and subject to nullification by changing events. Since objection may fasten on any of an enormous number of variables, the claim is ultimately subjective, depending on the claimant's view of the facts in relation to his judgment that a given factor or congeries of factors colors the character of the war as a whole. In short, it is not at all obvious in theory what sorts of objections should be deemed sufficient to excuse an objector, and there is considerable force in the Government's contention that a program of excusing objectors to particular wars may be "impossible to conduct with any hope of reaching fair and consistent results. . . ." Brief 28.
To view the problem of fairness and evenhanded decisionmaking, in the present context, as merely a commonplace chore of weeding out "spurious claims" is to minimize substantial difficulties of real concern to a responsible legislative body. For example, under the petitioners' unarticulated scheme for exemption, an objector's claim to exemption might be based on some feature of a current conflict that most would regard as incidental, Page 401 U. S. 457 or might be predicated on a view of the facts that most would regard as mistaken. The particular complaint about the war may itself be "sincere," but it is difficult to know how to judge the "sincerity" of the objector's conclusion that the war in toto is unjust, and that any personal involvement would contravene conscience and religion. To be sure, we have ruled, in connection with § 6(j), that "the truth' of a belief is not open to question"; rather, the question is whether the objector's beliefs are "truly held." United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. at 380 U. S. 185. See also United States v. Ballard, 322 U. S. 78 (1944). But we must also recognize that "sincerity" is a concept that can bear only so much adjudicative weight.
Ours is a Nation of enormous heterogeneity in respect of political views, moral codes, and religious persuasions. It does not bespeak an establishing of religion for Congress to forgo the enterprise of distinguishing those whose dissent has some conscientious basis from those who simply dissent. There is a danger that, as between two would-be objectors, both having the same complaint against a war, that objector would succeed who is more articulate, better educated, or better counseled. There is even a danger of unintended religious discrimination -- a danger that a claim's chances of success would be greater the more familiar or salient the claim's connection with conventional religiosity could be made to appear. At any rate, it is true that "the more discriminating and complicated the basis of classification for an exemption -- even a neutral one -- the greater the potential for state involvement" in determining the character of persons' beliefs and affiliations, thus "entangl[ing] government in difficult classifications of what is or is not religious," or what is or is not conscientious. Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. at 397 U. S. 698-699 (opinion of Page 401 U. S. 458 HARLAN, J.). Cf. Presbyterian Church v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Church, 393 U. S. 440 (1969). While the danger of erratic decisionmaking unfortunately exists in any system of conscription that takes individual differences into account, no doubt the dangers would be enhanced if a conscientious objection of indeterminate scope were honored in theory.
Tacit at least in the Government's view of the instant cases is the contention that the limits of § 6(j) serve an overriding interest in protecting the integrity of democratic decisionmaking against claims to individual noncompliance. Despite emphasis on claims that have a "political and particular" component, the logic of the Page 401 U. S. 459 contention is sweeping. Thus, the "interest" invoked is highly problematical, for it would seem to justify governmental refusal to accord any breathing space whatever to noncompliant conduct inspired by imperatives of religion and conscience.
On the other hand, some have perceived a danger that exempting persons who dissent from a particular war, albeit on grounds of conscience and religion in part, would "open the doors to a general theory of selective disobedience to law" and jeopardize the binding quality of democratic decisions. Report of the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service, In Pursuit of Equity: Who Serves When Not All Serve? 50 (1967). See also Hamilton v. Regents, 293 U. S. 245, 293 U. S. 268 (1934) (Cardozo, J., concurring). Other fields of legal obligation aside, it is undoubted that the nature of conscription, much less war itself, requires the personal desires and perhaps the dissenting views of those who must serve to be subordinated in some degree to the pursuit of public purposes. It is also true that opposition to a particular war does depend, inter alia, upon particularistic factual beliefs and policy assessments, beliefs and assessments that presumably were overridden by the government that decides to commit lives and resources to a trial of arms. Further, it is not unreasonable to suppose that some persons who are not prepared to assert a conscientious objection, and instead accept the hardships and risks of military service, may well agree at all points with the objector, yet conclude, as a matter of conscience, that they are personally bound by the decision of the democratic process. The fear of the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service, apparently, is that exemption of objectors to particular wars would weaken the resolve of those who otherwise would feel themselves bound to serve despite personal cost, uneasiness at the Page 401 U. S. 460 prospect of violence, or even serious moral reservations or policy objections concerning the particular conflict.
Of course, we do not suggest that Congress would have acted irrationally or unreasonably had it decided to exempt those who object to particular wars. Our analysis of the policies of § 6(j) is undertaken in order to determine the existence vel non of a neutral, secular justification for the lines Congress has drawn. We find that justifying reasons exist, and therefore hold that the Establishment Clause is not violated. Page 401 U. S. 461
Our cases do not, at their farthest reach, support the proposition that a stance of conscientious opposition relieves an objector from any colliding duty fixed by a democratic government. See Cantwell v. Connecticut, Page 401 U. S. 462 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 303-304 (1940); Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U. S. 11, 197 U. S. 29 (1905); cf. Cleveland v. United States, 329 U. S. 14, 329 U. S. 20 (1946). To be sure, the Free Exercise Clause bars "governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such," Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U. S. 398, 374 U. S. 402 (1963), or interference with the dissemination of religious ideas. See Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U. S. 67 (1953); Follett v. McCormick, 321 U. S. 573 (1944); Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U. S. 105 (1943). It prohibits misuse of secular governmental programs
Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. at 366 U. S. 607 (opinion of Warren, C.J.). And even as to neutral prohibitory or regulatory laws having secular aims, the Free Exercise Clause may condemn certain applications clashing with imperatives of religion and conscience, when the burden on First Amendment values is not justifiable in terms of the Government's valid aims. See id.; Sherbert v. Verner, supra. See generally Clark, Guidelines for the Free Exercise Clause, 83 Harv.L.Rev. 327 (1969). However, the impact of conscription on objectors to particular wars is far from unjustified. The conscription laws, applied to such persons as to others, are not designed to interfere with any religious ritual or practice, and do not work a penalty against any theological position. The incidental burdens felt by persons in petitioners' position are strictly justified by substantial governmental interests that relate directly to the very impacts questioned. And, more broadly, of course, there is the Government's interest in procuring the manpower necessary for military purposes, pursuant to the constitutional grant of power to Congress to raise and support armies. Art. I, § 8. Page 401 U. S. 463
This position is substantially the same as that of Sisson in United States v. Sisson, 297 F.Supp. 902, appeal Page 401 U. S. 464 dismissed, 399 U. S. 267, where the District Court summarized the draftee's position as follows:
The question, can a conscientious objector, whether his objection be rooted in "religion" or in moral values, be required to kill? has never been answered by the Court. [Footnote 2/2] Hamilton v. Regents, 293 U. S. 245, did no more than hold that the Fourteenth Amendment did not require a State to make its university available to one who would not take military training. United States v. Macintosh, 283 U. S. 605, denied naturalization to a person who "would not promise in advance to bear arms in defense of the United States unless he believed the war to be morally justified." Id. at 283 U. S. 613. The question of compelling a man to kill against his conscience was not squarely involved. Most of the talk in the majority opinion concerned "serving in the armed forces of the Page 401 U. S. 465 Nation in time of war." Id. at 283 U. S. 623. Such service can, of course, take place in noncombatant roles. The ruling was that such service is "dependent upon the will of Congress, and not upon the scruples of the individual, except as Congress provides." Ibid. The dicta of the Court in the Macintosh case squint towards the denial of Gillette's claim, though, as I have said, the issue was not squarely presented.
I think the Hughes view is the constitutional view. It is true that the First Amendment speaks of the free exercise of religion, not of the free exercise of conscience or belief. Yet conscience and belief are the main ingredients of First Amendment rights. They are the Page 401 U. S. 466 bedrock of free speech, as well as religion. The implied First Amendment right of "conscience" is certainly as high as the "right of association" which we recognized in Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U. S. 479, and NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U. S. 449. Some, indeed, have thought it higher. [Footnote 2/3]
"Van der Veer refuses military service not because he follows the commandment, 'Thou shalt do no murder,' not because he is a Christian, but because he holds murder to be opposed to human nature. "Page 401 U. S. 467
"A sincere and meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by Page 401 U. S. 468 the God of those admittedly qualifying for the exemption comes within the statutory definition."
"The First Amendment has lost much if the religious follower and the atheist [Footnote 2/7] are no longer to be Page 401 U. S. 469 judicially regarded as entitled to equal justice under law."
"[F]reedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. . . . The test of its substance Page 401 U. S. 470 is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
Under the doctrines of the Catholic Church, a person has a moral duty to take part in wars declared by his government so long as they comply with the tests of his church for just wars. [Footnote 3/1] Conversely, a Catholic has a moral duty not to participate in unjust wars. [Footnote 3/2] Page 401 U. S. 471
No one can tell a Catholic that this or that war is either just or unjust. This is a personal decision that an individual must make on the basis of his own conscience after studying the facts. [Footnote 3/5] Page 401 U. S. 472
"[M]odern wars can Page 401 U. S. 473 never fulfil those conditions which (as we stated earlier on in this essay) govern -- theoretically -- a just and lawful war. Moreover, no conceivable cause could ever be sufficient justification for the evils, the slaughter, the destruction, the moral and religious upheavals which war today entails. In practice, then, a declaration of war will never be justifiable. [Footnote 3/8]"
Louis Negre is a devout Catholic. In 1951, when he was four, his family immigrated to this country from Page 401 U. S. 474 France. [Footnote 3/10] He attended Catholic schools in Bakersfield, California, until graduation from high school. Then he attended Bakersfield Junior College for two years. Following that, he was inducted into the Army.
Negre applied for a discharge as a conscientious objector. His application was denied. He then refused to comply with an order to proceed for shipment to Vietnam. A general court-martial followed, but he was acquitted. After that he filed this application for discharge as a conscientious objector. Page 401 U. S. 475
See n. 5, supra. Fagothey, supra, n. 5, at 37 states: