Court Opinion

ID: 9462557
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:43:45.615031+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:38.720933
License: Public Domain

KOELSCH, Circuit Judge
(dissenting):
In Astrup the Court, indicating that the operation of Section 3(a) of the Selective Service and Training Act was governed by well settled principles of contract law, ruled that the exemption from military service *946granted the resident alien by the United States constituted the quid in return for the alien’s quo, in the form of his permanent ineligibility to become a citizen of the United States.
In the matter before us, the majority hedges the government’s promise with implied conditions and limitations for which bases are lacking. Can it be logically contended that the possibility of Argentina’s becoming a belligerent on the side of the allied powers was within the contemplation of the parties at the time the exemption was granted? But what particularly troubles me about the decision is its potential for rendering obscure rights which should be clearly defined and beyond question.
The way to do that, I submit, is to apply the section (and its companion) literally.